Association News FROM THE PUGET SOUND CAR WASH ASSOCIATION: Friends old and new gathered for the Car Wash Solutions Conference held by the PSCWA on March 29 at the Muckleshoot Casino. Longtime members, PSCWA leadership, and our loyal vendor members enjoyed a day of information sharing and socializing. We were joined by representatives of the Western Carwash Association and International Carwash Association - Kristy Babb and Claire Moore, respectively. Operators new to our association also traveled to Auburn to partake of the conference. We got to know representatives from Bush Car Washes in the Tri-Cities, The Wash Station, LLC in Wenatchee, and GTO Carwash in Yakima. The Car Wash Solutions Conference was made possible through the support of our conference sponsors - the Western Carwash Association, Diamond Shine, Inc., McNeil & Co., Northwest Wash Systems, LLC, Zep Vehicle Care, and DRB Systems, as well as Lustra Professional Car Care Products and Charter Industrial Supply LLC. But,
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all of our vendor members turned out. There were many displays of products and services on hand, and a lot of networking got done during the conference. Roundtables topics were wide-ranging and covered useful information. Low cost, and yet effective, a motion-activated audio system was described by security expert, Mike Canaan of Trident Investigative Service, Inc. Brooke Anderson of Bank of America and Rich Hays of DRB Systems fielded operators’ questions about the choice between increased liability and purchasing equipment with greater security for credit card transaction. Tips for recruiting the right employees from People Values President, Grant Robinson included offering existing employees an incentive to refer potential employees and approaching school coaches and teachers, versus guidance counselors, for referrals, since they’re in a better position to know their students. Glenn Potter of Inland Insurance discussed managing claims, Tammie Hetrick of Retail Association Services made a presentation regarding Workers Comp, and Heath Pomerantz of Diamond Shine led lively self-serve roundtable discussions.
After an excellent buffet of barbecue served by the Casino staff, Kristy Babb talked about the government affairs efforts of the Western Carwash Association and how such techniques might be used to influence legislation in Washington State. The question was asked- Would PSCWA members support becoming involved with government affairs? Perhaps revisiting the possibility of working towards elimination of the sales tax on self- serve car wash revenues? The PSCWA leadership made a commitment to discuss this and make a proposal to the membership about influencing issues, beginning with the 2017 legislative session. The conference ended with drawings for some great door prizes- gift certificates, a basket with a couple of bottles of excellent wine, and a much sought after drill, all provided by our conference sponsors. The grand prize was provided by the International Carwash Association for an all-access pass for their convention in Nashville on May 9-11. It was claimed by Bryant Souriyavongxay of The Wave Carwash, LLC. Thanks to everyone that worked on and attend{continued }