This week, we cover a groundbreaking for Tommy’s Express, a new hire, a detailing mission, scholarship recipients, an event, a new product and a television opportunity.

Tommy’s Express and Tommy Car Wash Systems announce groundbreaking of new headquarters

HOLLAND, Mich. — Tommy’s Express and Tommy Car Wash Systems announced the groundbreaking for their new $30,000,000 headquarters in Holland, Michigan, according to a press release.

The project will consolidate operations from several existing locations into a single 75,000-square-foot office and 200,000-plus-square-foot warehouse space.

The expansion will create opportunities for hundreds of new jobs over the next three years. 

Construction on the new headquarters, located at Waverly and M-40 in Holland, will begin in July 2021 with completion projected in fall 2022.

Tommy’s, in partnership with EV Construction, will be hosting a private groundbreaking ceremony scheduled for Tuesday, July 13th at 4 p.m.

“Given the recent growth of our operations, we see an expanded headquarters as a continued commitment to our valuable team members,” said Ryan Essenburg, president and chief innovation officer of Tommy’s. “We also anticipate an upgraded space as a means to broaden our impact, and we thank and appreciate EV Construction for their role in helping us reach this goal.”

Interactive Studios of Grand Rapids is the project lead designer and architect.

Concepts for the new facility were developed by Tommy’s over several years of planning and studying the needs of its growing business.

The building will feature a large warehouse, fabrication and logistics center, two stories of modern office space, and ample room for events and employee collaboration with vendors and customers.

The focal point of the building is a two-story, round office, which will feature training and technical support areas for Tommy’ Express franchise partners.

The project’s exterior design will also feature architectural inspiration from the iconic Tommy’s Express Car Washes, which are being built across the U.S.

“The design of the building is intended to show our franchise partners and employees that they are the center of our business. The space is all about supporting them as they deliver a world-class carwash experience,” said Alex Lemmen, CEO of Tommy’s Express and Tommy Car Wash Systems.

ZIPS hires chief development officer to reach strategic expansion goals

PLANO, Texas — ZIPS Car Wash announced that Mike Corey has joined the ZIPS team as chief development officer, according to a press release.

Corey comes from a background in retail and healthcare, most recently serving as executive vice president and chief development officer of Adeptus Heath.

ZIPS is confident Corey can use his strategic development skills to help expand its ever-growing footprint.

“I believe that the development tools I’ve established over the past 30 years in both healthcare and retail real estate development can help ZIPS reach their goal of swift, strategic expansion,” said Corey. “We’ve hit the ground running to continue the expansion efforts and will work to grow our brand in a way that makes our services more valuable to our Unlimited Wash Club members who have unlimited access to our 200-plus locations.”

During his tenure at Adeptus, Corey assembled and led the team that developed Adeptus Health’s innovative market analytics and established the infrastructure of vendors, processes and people that resulted in Adeptus Health’s expansion from just 13 emergency room facilities in Texas to more than 100 emergency room facilities and six acute care hospitals across four states in just four years.

Corey has been responsible for several hundred new store openings and has held a number of executive leadership roles, including senior vice president of store development for Hollywood/Movie Gallery, chief development officer for Eastern Mountain Sports and vice president of domestic real estate for Blockbuster.

Corey received a Juris Doctor from DePaul University College of Law and a Bachelor of Arts in economics from the University of Dallas.

He is a licensed attorney in the State of Texas and an International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC) member.

After 2-year hiatus, Air Force One Detailing Team returns to Museum of Flight

BIG BEAR, Calif. — After two years, and thanks to a very generous benefactor, Master automotive and aircraft detailer Renny Doyle of Detailing Success will return to Seattle’s Museum of Flight this year with a smaller but more streamlined Air Force One Detailing Team to continue the preservation of the first presidential jet Air Force One from July 11-18, according to a press release.

Also on the agenda is the equally historic WWII B-29 Super Fortress Bomber.

This will be the 18th year Doyle, known as “The Detailer of Air Force One,” will lead a team to Seattle to continue its role as caretaker of the famous presidential plane and the notable B-29 Bomber.

While the team is less than half the size of teams in recent years, this year’s slimmed-down team of 20 will consist of the most experienced and proven members of the team who could make the last-minute commitment.

The famed detailers will tackle only two of the more than 15 historic aircraft they have been restoring and preserving over the past decade; however, Doyle said he is grateful for the opportunity to be working on the two celebrated airplanes after having to skip last year due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“In the early days of restoring Air Force One, we had a very small but elite team of detailers that only came every couple of years to clean it,” said Doyle. “The plane was still out on the tarmac, and in that two-year period, it was almost like having to start all over every year. In the past few years, we have increased the team to about 50 so we can take on several other planes as well. However, we are honored to be able to do the project this year, even if on a smaller scale.”

Today the plane is on display inside the open-air Aviation Pavilion, but it is still exposed to moisture and Seattle’s cold winter weather conditions.

Doyle said every year when they come to work on it, the paint has begun to show signs of weathering and the brightwork has begun to dull, even though they use a one-year protective coating to tide it over until the next year.

“It has been two years since we laid hands on the plane, and the coating will have worn off by now. We are almost certain to see some weathering of the paint and oxidizing of the aluminum,” he said.

This goes double for the B-29 Bomber with its 100% aluminum fuselage.

Doyle chooses his team members carefully every spring from detailers he has certified over the years.

Many of them are senior members of the team that go back to the original restoration project in 2003, but he tries to also bring in rookies every year who show promise in the meticulous art of paint correction and polishing one-stage paint and brightwork.

All Air Force One Team members are successful detailing business owners who pay their own way to Seattle and donate their time and skills to the project, as they consider it their patriotic duty.

Announcing the 2021 NECA Scholarship Recipients

WAKEFIELD, Mass. — New England Carwash Association (NECA) has announced its 2021 scholarship recipients, according to a press release.

Since 2011, including this year, NECA has awarded $30,000 in scholarships to deserving member company employees or their children.

Each year, NECA awards one scholarship in memory of Tom Rando to an applicant who embodies the values and talents of Tom Rando, an entrepreneur, innovator and respected industry leader.

The 2021 Thomas Rando Scholarship recipient is Danny Rodriguez, whose father, Albeiro, works for ScrubaDub in Woburn, Massachusetts.

Rodriguez will be entering his senior year at UMass Boston, graduating with a degree in exercise health science.

Upon graduation, he plans to take the physical therapy (PT) assistant exam and to enter a PT doctoral program.

In high school, Rodriguez was a high-honors student and a three-sport athlete as well as a member of other student organizations.

During his junior year, he was chosen by Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center to be part of its summer health corps volunteer program.

Currently, he is working full-time as an operating room attendant for the medical center while maintaining his high academic standing.

Samantha Snow is the daughter of Michael Snow, owner of Maintenance Technology.

Snow dreams of becoming an FBI Special Agent and to that end, she will enter the University of New Haven’s Criminal Justice – Investigative Service Program this fall.

The university recognized her exceptional scholastic, athletic (lacrosse, field hockey and competitive rifle shooting) and community service by presenting her with a Distinguished Scholar Award.

Michael Connolly, who has worked for Sandwich Car Wash since high school, will be entering his senior year as a business management major at UMass-Amherst.

For the first time, he will be living on campus; if his name sounds familiar, it is because Connolly, when a Cape Cod Community College student, was NECA’s 2019 Thomas Rando Scholarship recipient.

He again impressed the committee with his work ethic, maturity and determination to reach his goals.

NECA is confident that these outstanding young people will be successful and is pleased to be of some small assistance.

CAP announces keynote speaker for Annual Dinner and Table-Top Show

MECHANICSBURG, Pa. — Carwash Association of Pennsylvania (CAP) has announced that Tyler Slaughter, operations director of Camel Express Car Wash and co-owner of TalkCarWash LLC, will be the keynote speaker at this year’s CAP Annual Dinner and Table-Top Show.

The show will be hosted at the AACA Museum in Hershey, Pennsylvania.

Vendor and sponsorship opportunities are available.

Learn more and register at www.pacarwash.org.

Hydra-Flex introduces next generation of Aqua-Lab™

SAVAGE, Minn. — The all-new Aqua-Lab chemical dispensing system is now available for pre-order and will begin to ship in August, according to a press release.

Aqua-Lab’s evolution builds on the consistent, efficient and reliableperformance customers depend on, and it now offers a connectedexperience to move chemical dispensing into the future.

“We are so excited to unveil the next generation of Aqua-Lab,” said Jaime Harris, Hydra-Flex founder and CEO. “At Hydra-Flex, we always say, ‘What gets measured improves,’ so our team has been hard at work designing and improving the new system, and we’ve verified it with internal testing and field trials in carwashes all across the country. Everyone is excited about the results.”

A new, intuitive, front-loaded design ensures Aqua-Lab is remarkably easy to install, operate and maintain.

The system and its Grundfos Integrated variable frequency drive (VFD) pump deliver chemicals accurately and efficiently.

It’s optimized to supply more pressure while using less power to reduce water, chemical and energy use.

Also, the next generation of Aqua-Lab is now connected thanks to Alfred, a personal carwash assistant.

Alfred is an online monitoring system that offers real-time analytics, updates, alerts and summary reports to help watch over your wash.

Opportunity for automatic carwash operators to partner with ‘Wash Wars’

ATLANTA — Bentley Brandon, the Car Wash Guru and World Champion, is offering all carwash machine operators the opportunity to partner with him on his hit TV show, “Wash Wars,” according to a press release.

“Wash Wars” is the only competitive carwashing reality show where contestants wash cars for big cash prizes.

Not only do contestants compete for cash prizes, but the judges are A-list celebrities from music, movies, television and social media as well as popular and powerful personalities who know a superb wash and detail job when they see one.

Going strong for a season, Brandon is now working on “Wash Wars: Season 2.”

“Wash Wars” currently features competitors handwashing and detailing cars, but Brandon realized there’s a market and an audience for carwash machine operators to join in the exciting competition with “Wash Wars: Machine vs. Machine.”

Within this partnership, automatic carwash operators will get the opportunity to be on “Wash Wars: Machine vs. Machine” in an all-out battle between carwashing operators cleaning and detailing cars for big fun and even bigger cash prizes.

In addition, the partnership with Brandon is offering carwash operators not only the opportunity to compete on “Wash Wars: Machine vs. Machine” but the chance to host their own show that caters to machine washers.

With both “Wash Wars: Machine vs. Machine” and the opportunity to host their own shows licensed and judged by Brandon, carwash machine operators will enjoy exclusive networking to showcase various business partners, entertainers and personalities of their own choosing.

Brandon offers an exclusive partnership as a prime prospect to connect with national businesses and organizations that benefit from talented handwashers and machine washers alike.