Our highly qualified team has the necessary experience and knowledge to assist car wash owners in planning, building, and operating both full-service car washes, self-service car washes, oil lubes and gas stations.

DAVE DALESANDRO – PRESIDENT
Dave’s Background includes a Masters Degree in Business Administration from Benedictine University, 14 years as the owner of Dave’s Car Wash in Bolingbrook, IL, and 18 months as a Regional Manager for a large full service chain. Dave has been involved in car wash management, construction, and equipment design of over 100 full service and exterior only car washes, throughout the country. Dave is also a Certified Training Consultant for POWER, Inc.’s CAR WASH INSTITUTE™. Dave’s area of expertise includes equipment layout & design, site development, financing, car wash management, and car wash operational training.

FRANK GRIPPO SR – CO-FOUNDER / CHAIRMAN OF THE BOARD
Frank entered the petroleum industry through Standard Oil as a Dealer in 1967. For the next 20+ years he would own and operate 7 separate service stations in the western suburbs of Chicago. While his stations specialized in providing petroleum and auto repair services, he recognized a need for an additional profit center. It was in 1980 that Frank entered the carwash industry by building an exterior carwash onto his existing service station in Western Springs. After realizing the potential of the industry, Frank went on to purchase another existing exterior only carwash in Countryside and two full-service carwashes in Berwyn & Elmhurst. Now deeply rooted in the carwash industry as an owner / operator of 4 separate sites, Frank recognized a need for a service & maintenance company in order to reduce downtime. In 1982, Frank partnered with Jim Pushaw to form Carwash Services. Since that time Frank has gradually sold all of his washes & service centers in order to concentrate fully on assisting hundreds of carwash owners achieve profitability through car washing.

JIM PUSHAW – CO-FOUNDER / VP FINANCE
Jim entered the car wash industry in 1971 wiping cars for a car wash in Westmont, IL, where he quickly worked his way up to Location Manager. In 1975 Jim went on to install car wash equipment for a local equipment distributor. In 1982 Jim joined Frank Grippo and founded Carwash Services, Inc. In 1989 Carwash Services, Inc. joined forces with PDQ and has since been considered one of the top equipment distributors in the country. Jim’s expertise includes a detailed knowledge of car wash systems, and associated technologies.

KEITH KNOCKEART – CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER
Keith graduated from Michigan State University in 1986 with a Bachelor’s degree in business administration. For the next 16 years, he worked for ExxonMobil in the petroleum industry. During his career at ExxonMobil, he worked throughout the United States. Keith has been involved in the development of 500+ car washes around the world. Keith understands the importance of choosing the right equipment partner. He knows how to drive car wash profits by having the right marketing, giving a customer a quality wash, and providing proper employee training.

CHICAGO TEAM

GERRY SCHERMERHORN – SENIOR PROJECT MANAGER
Gerry entered the Car Wash Industry in 1985 as a wiper with Delta Sonic Car Wash Systems Inc., in Rochester, New York. He moved rapidly into management with a natural sense of urgency to develop his people and set high but realistic goals for his teams to reach. In 1990 Gerry moved to Chicago, Illinois as a General Manager and assisted in the growth of Delta Sonic to 6 locations. Gerry helped develop and implement the "Flex Serve Model" of carwashing . Gerry understands volume in carwashing, having over 10 million cars washed under his supervision. At Delta Sonic Gerry had the honor of leading over 500 employees and working within a family of professionals who are recognized as an industry leader. Gerry brings his experience and delivers to our clients focused professional development with his expertise in production, driving sales revenue, layouts and design, operational management development, and marketing. Having a vision and passion for the industry, Gerry can be found helping new investors define their vision, and current operators improve their quality, production and bottom line growth.

Gerry served on the Board (1995 - 2003) and is Past President of the Chicagoland Carwash Association (2000-2002) and was inducted into "The Carwash Hall of Fame" 2003 Gerry is also Certified in "Integrity Selling" and "The Walt Disney Institute of Management Excellence".

LONNIE DAVIS – SALES MANAGER
Lonnie has been in the car wash industry for ten years, Lonnie got his start as a tunnel manager with the White Glove chain in 1989, he spent the last four as the Carwash Coordinator for Amoco Oil Company in Chicago. He was responsible for the equipment selection, daily operations and management of 40 car wash locations locally, and consulted for 250 nationally. He understands your needs and objectives because he, just as you, was an operator. Lonnie has much to offer you in the way of operations, marketing, and equipment consultation. Lonnie’s primary focus is to maximize your bottom line profitability.

MIKE STANKO – SOLUTIONS SALES MANAGER
Mike graduated from Iowa State University in 1997 with a Bachelors Degree in Institutional Management. After spending 2 years working for Corporate Marriot, Mike entered the Carwash Industry in 1999 with Zep Manufacturing as a chemical consultant. Mike’s performance quickly earned him a spot as their top solutions consultant for Chicago’s Armor All division in just over a year’s time. Joining Carwash Services in 2003, Mike now manages our solutions department. Mike holds a complete understanding of how each and every chemical in a carwash works. Mike can assure you that he will deliver the best quality end-product at the lowest possible cost.

MIKE CVITANOVICH – DETAIL CONSULTANT
Mike entered the Carwash industry in 1990 as the detail sales rep for A/R Supply. Mike has played an integral role in the success of his customers since this time. His hands-on every day experience with the products he offers has given him first hand knowledge on how each specific product works. Mike is well known in the industry as one of the local experts on detailing products. Mike provides his customers with products for each specific need. Joining us in 2003, Mike brings his 14 years of detail product experience to our team.

JOHN JENNINGS – SOLUTION CONSULTANT
John started his career as a very successful full-service car wash manager. Since then John has spent time working for Blue Coral and Simonie selling chemicals throughout the country. When it comes to customer service, John is considered by many to be one of the best chemical consultants in the country.

LARRY MCKERNAN – DIRECTOR OF TECHNICAL DEVELOPMENT
Recently promoted from service manager, Larry’s sole responsibility is the training and development of our service technicians. Larry’s career in management has included car washes, gas stations, and detail centers, as well as high volume, full service and exterior only car washes. His background as one of the industries first LASERWASH technicians has earned him the nickname “Laser Larry”.

SAM YOUSSEF – TUNNEL INSTALLATION MANAGER
Sam leads the tunnel installation team. His background includes the management of Dave’s Car Wash in Bolingbrook, IL, and equipment manager for Wash Depot. In 1998, while working for Wash Depot, Sam’s installation team completed over 30 full service tunnel installations, in 8 different states. Sam maintains a constant search for the most advanced equipment technology and installation techniques. Sam is considered by many to be the industry leader in system design and installation techniques.

ARIZONA TEAM

DENNIS BARNICKEL – DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS
Dennis served as location manager for a major oil company before joining Carwash Services in 1997. Dennis is considered one of the industries top experts in chemical injection technology. His knowledge of car wash cleaning solutions has helped over 100 area operators improve cleaning and reduce cost per car.

JIM RAFFERTY – SENIOR PROJECT MANAGER
Jim Rafferty graduated from University of Akron with a degree in Sales & Marketing and joined the car wash industry with DRB Systems in 1994. After six years of success with DRB, Jim moved on to pursue a long time passion in the Financial Services’ business as an investment planner and consultant. But less than two years later, the lure of the Car Wash industry, pulled Jim back into the fold when Innovative Control Systems convinced him to take over a lagging Midwest territory. During his time with ICS, Jim became an “Industry Expert” on the Express Exterior and Express Flex-Service business models. He’s been asked to speak many times for the International Car Wash Association’s Car Care World Expo, as well as many regional shows. During his tenure with ICS, Jim consulted on hundreds of projects across 22 states and Canada. In 2007, Jim resigned his position with ICS to accept a position with Carwash Services of AZ where his industry experience and particularly his Express Model knowledge will enable him to be more involved with each client’s success.

TIM RYAN – SENIOR PROJECT MANAGER
Prior to entering the car wash industry, Tim received a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics at Montana State University. The next four years he was a high school math teacher and wrestling coach. This experience would later help Tim with the teaching and training of detailers on buffing and service writers on techniques to generate higher ticket sales. Tim entered the car wash market when he formed, along with his partner John Dickens, a very successful chemical sales company (Steel Image Industries, Inc.). Tim helped build Steel Image into one of the area leaders by providing great service to the Arizona car wash operators. In November of 2002, Tim and John merged Steel Image into CarWash Services and took over the Solutions Division.

JON DICKENS – SOLUTIONS SALES MANAGER
Jon’s background includes a Degree from New Mexico State University with an emphasis in Science and 10 years as a Science Teacher. In 1999 Jon, with his partner Tim Ryan was instrumental in developing a complete line of car wash and detail chemicals for Steel Image Industries. Steel Images's commitment to their clients increased business from one customer in the summer of 1999 to over 300, with 40 major car washes. During the next three years, Jon’s focuses also included training carwash owners, managers and detailers on operational procedures. In November of 2002, Tim and John merged Steel Image into Carwash Services and took over the Solutions Division.

GINO RAIMONDI – TUNNEL INSTALLATION MANAGER
Well known in the Chicago as one of the best conveyor installers in the country. Gino began his career in the car wash industry with Flapan Equipment. After Flapan was sold, Gino spent several years with Fullers Equipment before joining Carwash Services to manage our Arizona Tunnel Installations. Gino has 30 years of experience installing conveyor car wash equipment.

NATHAN UPTAIN – LASERWASH INSTALLATION MANAGER
Nathan entered the car wash industry in 1993 as a Maintenance Technician for a small oil company based in New Mexico, which owned and operated several Touch-Free Automatics and Self Serve car washes. Since that time Nathan has become factory certified with several equipment and solution manufacturers. Nathan has been involved in the construction and installation of over 100 in-bay automatics, and numerous self serves, tunnels and other brands of equipment. Nathan has extensive experience installing car wash equipment with a primary focus on Touch-Free Automatics.