A Clean Car Does a Body Good!

For the entire month of May, select Super Wash® car washes hosted a FoodRaiser to raise money for local food pantries. $42,550 was collectively raised with an average donation of $250.00 made to each participating food pantry. All of the money raised will stay in the local community to benefit local families.

Bob Black, Co-Founder and CEO of Super Wash, Inc. remarked, “So many really wonderful people and hard-working families are struggling right now through no fault of their own. I began my career as a high school biology teacher, so it is particularly hard for me to grasp how many kids are going hungry, especially during the summer when school is out. We are so pleased to be able to make a positive difference in some small way through our FoodRaiser.”

On their website, Feeding America, the nation’s leading domestic hunger-relief charity, states, “For every $1.00 donated Feeding America can provide 7 meals to men, women and children facing hunger in our country.” While food procurement and distribution challenges alter the number of meals, or pounds of food, that a $1.00 donation can provide in different parts of the country, it is notable that in Omaha, NE $1.00 donated to a local food pantry can buy $9.00 worth of food and in northeast Indiana $1.00 can buy 5.5 pounds of food.

Founded by Bob and Mary Black in 1976, Super Wash is the nation’s largest car wash franchisor/operator with 305 locations in twenty-one states. Visit www.superwash.com to find the Super Wash closest to you.

Next Generation of Talent

I had the pleasure of meeting two young guys this week who, like me and my sister, grew up in the car wash industry. Both Ryan and Kyle are doing some cool and innovative stuff to bring more awareness, via newer technology, to the car wash industry. What I especially liked about these guys is how both of them seem to have a real sense of need to give back to the industry in which they were raised. As you can probably imagine, car washing is very much a family business venture. It was that way when we started in the 70's and it's still that way today. What we are experiencing now though is the next generation coming into their 20's, 30's and 40's and really putting their mark on this industry.

Ryan and I had a chance to work together yesterday on a podcast focused on community involvement and fundraising, and he did a really nice job as the host. The podcast will likely be posted either today or early next week at www.washideas.com. It is also available as a podcast through itunes. Ryan produces this podcast as basically a hobby and his day job company, Wash Card Systems, allows him to do so on company time. Now that's thinking outside the box!! I applaud both Ryan and Wash Card Systems for their efforts to make this industry more inclusive. Thank you!

Kyle is creating "behind the scenes" looks at different companies in the car wash industry. He is posting those looks on his website www.carwashtv.com. Another great and innovative offering by some of the car wash industries next generation of talent.

Who's next up in your industry? What are they bringing to the table? Are you listening to what they are saying? How can you mentor them into being the next generation of leaders? All good things to be thinking about...

Until next time, be SUPER!!
Susan