ICA, with the support and assistance of our working group, approached the North American headquarters offices of most automotive manufacturers to make them aware of these issues and request their assistance. Thus far, one major manufacturer, Ford Motor Company, has provided their response.

The sun was shining and the shammies were out last Saturday as Kwik Car Wash kicked off their first charity wash of the season, benefitting PEPC MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) II. Overall, the group was able to raise nearly $900 for their scholarship funds and service projects. In addition to earning 50 percent of Kwik Car Wash’s wash sales from the fundraiser’s duration, MOPS members and volunteers were able to raise additional funds by vacuuming and towel drying vehicles after their wash.

Belmont Car Wash & Detailing, one of the community’s longest running family-owned businesses, is proud to be a finalist in this year’s Massachusetts Family Business Awards in the small firm category. The awards will take place Wednesday, June 10th from 6PM to 9PM at Northeastern University.

KQED The meter has officially started running on California’s efforts to meet strict new water conservation targets from Governor Jerry Brown. The first-ever statewide urban restrictions aim to cut water use by an average of 25 percent. Just a month ago, the San Jose City Council passed drought rules that most car washing businesses could only dream of: if you live in San Jose, you’re no longer allowed to wash your car at home with potable water.

Branson Tri-Lakes News At 17 years old, Hollister High School graduate Nicholas Gage has only been able to drive a car for a year, he cannot vote in an election and it has been the first year of his life he has been able to see an R-rated movie in theaters by himself. However, now Gage is getting closer to becoming one of the newest business owners in Hollister with Slick Nick’s car wash.

As the winter-that-wouldn’t-leave finally does so and many car owners at last dig out their buried cars, the next big issue is getting a car wash. But wouldn’t it be great if cars just shed road dirt, grime, and salt automatically? Such a possibility could be approaching reality as chemists at University College London (UCL) and other universities have unveiled a new tough, self-cleaning paint system that maintains its dirt-shedding properties in everyday wear and tear. In tests, the resilient coating worked even after being wiped, scratched with a knife, and scuffed with sandpaper forty times.

Entrepreneur You’re an entrepreneur. A visionary. A big-picture-oriented business professional with big dreams and big plans. And since this is where your strengths and skills lie, it’s no wonder the words "human resources" seem to stop you dead in your tracks. Growth-driven business owners face a double-edged sword when it comes to expanding their operations. On the one hand, bringing on employees is a necessary part of scaling a company. But at the same time, hiring these new workers adds a layer of complexity that most entrepreneurs either don’t want to deal with or don’t know how to address.

buisiness.com American small business employs the majority of the nation’s private workforce with 56.1 million people. Compared to the 51.6 million employees in the enterprise sector, these figures alone show how impactful small business employment is on our economy and people. According to ADP employment records, small businesses created 108,000 jobs in March 2015. As the year moves forward, so does small business hiring, albeit cautiously. As they look to slowly but surely add to their workforce, small businesses are tapping cloud-based tools to manage their staff and customer relationships.

TECH.CO Recently I read a post about Facebook marketing for small business owners and it inspired me to share one of my own personal experiences with a successful Facebook marketing campaign. Recently our Denver-based SEO company launched a lead generation campaign that achieved a whopping 85.9% conversion rate from traffic that was driven from Facebook and in this article I’m going to show you exactly how we did it.

Independent To keep your Facebook fans engaged you will need to establish a unique value proposition for your audience - essentially, a reason for people to keep coming back to your page, clicking on your posts and sharing your content. Ask yourself: ‘What value am I providing for my fans?’ ‘Is it something that our competitors can’t compete with?’