Today we’d like to introduce you to Thomas D’Eri.
Tom is the COO/Co-Founder of Rising Tide Car Wash, a social enterprise that employs individuals with autism for 80% of their staff in a premium car wash business. Tom and his father, CEO/Co-founder, John D’Eri have developed one of the first operationally proven and financially viable businesses dedicated to employing people with autism. To date, Rising Tide Car Wash has employed over 150 individuals with autism generating over $3,000,000 per year in sales. Rising Tide Car Wash has been the recipient of the Autism Society of America Employer of the Year (2014), Ruderman “Best in Business” Award (2015), Daniel Jordan Fiddle Foundation Leader in Adult Autism Award (2017) and the CARD Community Leadership Award from University of Miami Center for Autism and Related Disabilities (2018).
To support thousands of families and businesses that have reached out to Rising Tide for guidance on employing people with autism they launched Rising Tide U, in partnership with UM-NSU CARD, to enable jobs for people with autism by helping other families and organizations learn how to harness the advantages of employing people with autism through educational products and services.
The Rising Tide team uses their experiences of building a successful for-profit business model with autistic employees from the ground up as the foundation for their first product, “The Autism Advantage”. The Autism Advantage is an online business course that provides a step-by-step process for launching a sustainable social enterprise dedicated to employing people with autism.
Has it been a smooth road? It’s challenging work to start any business and ours have been no exception. It was difficult to learn how to operate car washes at a high level, how to build a culture that fully empowers all of our employees with autism and how to share our learnings in a helpful way. But we’ve had tremendous partners, such as Dr. Michael Alessandri, Executive Director of UM-NSU CARD and Paul Fazio, President of Sonny’s Enterprises who have made our journey possible.
So, let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Rising Tide Car Wash & Rising Tide U story. Tell us more about the business. Rising Tide Car Wash provides premium car wash services delivered by expert professionals with autism. We’re known for giving great service, working hard and having a great eye for detail. We believe that we all shine brighter together and I think we’re known for providing great car wash experiences for our customers and great employment experiences for individuals with autism.
Rising Tide U enables jobs for people with autism by helping other families and organizations learn how to harness the advantages of employing people with autism through educational products and services. We’re best known for our online course, The Autism Advantage, the only program of its kind that walks participants step-by-step through creating a social enterprise that supports neuro-diverse individuals.
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade? The car wash industry will likely consolidate over the next 5-10 years as larger organizations break into the market. There is also possible disruption coming from self-driving cars and how that will change vehicle ownership.
Contact Info:
- Address: Rising Tide Parkland – 7201 north state rd 7, Parkland, Fl 33067
Rising Tide Margate – 2970 north state rd 7, Margate, Fl 33063 - Website: www.risingtidecarwash.com www.risingtideu.com
- Phone: 9544820732
- Email: tderi@risingtidecarwash.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/explore/locations/172640079958256/rising-tide-car-wash/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RisingTideCarWash/ https://www.facebook.com/risingtideu/
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