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The Western Carwash Association doled out their annual awards during a breakfast meeting at the Association’s 28th Annual Convention and Tradeshow in Las Vegas this October.
The Association also thanked President Jerry Nix for two years of service and welcomed Bill Carbonel, currently a board member, as its president for the next term.
Grease Monkey International, Inc. awarded its top franchisees for outstanding performance in the prior year at its 2009 Annual Conference in Amelia Island, FL, in October.
Top individual center sales honors:
The President’s Award:
The Pursuit of Excellence Award:
In addition to these awards, franchisee Ron Morrow of Longmont, CO, (a 2006 Professional Carwashing & Detailing Car Care Person of the Year) was presented with a crystal gavel for his dedication as President of the International Franchise Advisory Council.
In Other News
Circle K Southwest’s new “Cleaner Greener” advertising campaign prominently features the new SoftWash XT friction rollover from Mark VII Equipment Inc. Circle K chose the SoftWash XT due to its “highly efficient” use of water during the wash process.
“Our ‘Cleaner Greener’ ads are designed to educate consumers how we’re making our stores more environmentally friendly, so showing a customer washing his car in one of our SoftWash XTs while discussing the water saving benefits of our carwashes is a natural fit with the campaign,” explained Brad Staab, carwash category manager for Circle K Southwest.
The carwash system can clean a single vehicle with as little as 15 gallons of water.
The new Green Scene chemical line from Simoniz USA has been accepted by the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Design for the Environment (DfE) program, which promotes the use of products with improved environmental and human health characteristics.
The products included in the partnership are several triple foams, a pre-soak and all-purpose prep cleaner, a wheel and rim cleaner, and a lubricating all purpose soap.
Car Wash Services of New England has joined the Motor City Wash Works distributor network. The company, headed by Frank DiTommaso, was formerly a Belanger distributor for Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and northeastern New York (Albany).
DiTommaso founded the company in 1991, after several years of working in the carwash industry in New England. The company has more than 300 customers to date.
LUBEGARD by International Lubricants, Inc. (ILI) has launched its sixth ALL-STAR Contest, ending this coming Valentine’s Day, Feb. 14, 2010.
The Oct. 13 release said this is the last chance for technicians around the world to turn in previous and current LUBEGARD All Star redemption stickers for prizes and gift cards.
Econocraft Car Wash Systems has appointed Prestige Car Wash Equipment as an exclusive distributor to the New England market. Brockton, MA-based Prestige has a full-service carwash training center, as well as a training center for exterior carwash equipment.
Ecologic Products, Inc. has signed a services contract with Park N’ Fly, a national off-airport parking company, to launch a new car cleaning service, Park N’ Shine, at the company’s airport parking locations.
Ecologic’s waterless cleaning solution, Ecologic Shine, will be used in wash services and offered to Park N’ Fly customers.
The two companies will co-brand vehicle washing at 19 airport markets beginning in Atlanta, GA, with plans to roll-out nationwide.
PDQ Manufacturing, Inc., a manufacturer of touch-free vehicle wash systems, has appointed two new distributors to its network in the Chicago area.
Hoffman Services, based in Wheeling, IL, and Hopkins Distributing, Inc., based in Darien, IL, will both be additional non-exclusive distributors serving the Northeast Illinois market.
DETAIL PLUS Car Appearance Systems has appointed Bandar Al Aamer as the authorized distributor for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Al Aamer has a location in the western province of Saudi Arabia and is opening another location in Riyadh, the nation’s capital. There are plans in the works for a third location in Dammam.
Association News
The International Carwash Association (ICA) has formed the WaterSavers Advisory Council in order to support the growth and efficacy of the WaterSavers program, as well as the industry’s environmental awareness and performance initiatives.
An industry-wide group of leaders representing industry trade media, state and regional associations, suppliers, and operators have been invited to the council, including PC&D’s Editor in Chief Kate Carr.
The WaterSavers program, launched at Car Care World Expo 2009, is a marketing program to help professional carwashes promote their environmentally-friendly business practices to consumers and communities. To learn more or become a participant, visit the Association’s website at www.icawatersavers.org.
The Western Carwash Association (WCA) revealed a new logo and water conservation certification/education program at the Association’s 28th Annual Convention and Tradeshow held at the MGM Grand Hotel and Casino this October in Las Vegas.
The new logo features a sleek black drawing of a car sitting on a water drop with a unifying green ribbon around the two and the Association’s name in a modern, all caps font.
The new environmental education program is featured on the Association’s website, www.wcwa.org, and offers a variety of helpful brochures, marketing materials and educational studies. There are also applications to start the certification process.
The Northeast Regional Carwash Convention (NRCC) contracted with Mingle360 to improve social networking opportunities at its tradeshow in Atlantic City, NJ, held Oct. 19-21 at The Borgata Hotel and Casino.
Each of the attendees were given a MingleStick which served as a social networking portal and electronic business card.
About 1,200 attendees were anticipated, but around 1,320 actually showed. Julie Stanton, NRCC convention manager, told PC&D, “The weather made us nervous. But everyone was able to break away and come to the show. Even on the last day we had a lot more people there than usual.”