U.S. Senator Marco Rubio (R-FL), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, has named Rising Tide Car Wash of Parkland and Margate, Florida as the U.S. Senate Small Business of the Week. Rising Tide Car Wash is a groundbreaking social enterprise with a primary mission to employ adults with autism.
As Chairman of the Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship, Senator Rubio continues the tradition of honoring America’s small businesses and entrepreneurs. The Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship oversees proposed legislation on matters relating to the Small Business Administration and investigates all problems relating to America’s small businesses.
“… Rising Tide Car Wash is an outstanding example of how small businesses can fill local business needs while providing dignified work to those in their community,” said Senator Rubio. “I am proud to honor Rising Tide Car Wash as the Senate Small Business of the Week.”
“We are honored that Senator Rubio has selected Rising Tide Car Wash as the U.S. Senate Small Business of the Week,” said John D’Eri, CEO of Rising Tide Car Wash. “Since we opened in 2013, it has been our mission to empower young adults with autism by providing them with opportunities to realize their capabilities, gain confidence, make friends, gain financial independence, and have a place to call their own.”
John D’Eri, and his son Thomas D’Eri, COO of Rising Tide Car Wash, co-founded Rising Tide Car Wash social enterprise to develop a scalable solution to employing individuals with autism. They were inspired to do this by watching John’s son and Thomas’ brother Andrew, a vibrant young man with autism, struggle to find his place in the world. Now with approximately 90 employees, Rising Tide Car Wash is one of the largest employers of people with autism in the U.S.
In 2016, Thomas D’Eri launched Rising Tide’s training organization, Rising Tide U (RTU), providing a road map for families who believe starting a business is their only way to help loved ones with autism build a future.
Currently, unemployment among people with autism is approximately 90 percent, and at least 500,000 more individuals with autism will enter the workforce in the next decade. The D’Eris are striving to change the root cause of this unemployment: society views autism as a disability opposed to a diversity.
Rising Tide has also been honored with The Agency for Persons with Disabilities (APD), Blind Services, and Vocational Rehabilitation’s Florida Exceptional Employers designation; Daniel Jordan Fiddle Foundation Leader in Adult Autism Award, Community Service Leadership Award from the International Carwash Association® (ICA), Employer of the Year by the Autism Society, Small Business of the Year by South Florida Business Connection, the Autism Society’s Adam Heavner Memorial Award for Employer of the Year, TEDxCoconutGrove’s Hope Prize, and more.
In 2017 and 2018, Thomas D’Eri was selected to speak at United Nations’ World Autism Awareness Day panel event at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, New York. In addition, Rising Tide has been featured on NBC’s the TODAY Show, “NBC Nightly News,” Fox Business’ “Making Money,” MSNBC’s “Your Business This Sunday,” TEDxCoconutGrove, Fast Company and the Miami Herald.
About Rising Tide Car Wash
Rising Tide Car Wash is a scalable social enterprise with the primary mission to employ adults with autism. By delivering a first-rate car wash experience to the consumer, Rising Tide strives to inspire communities to change their perception of the capabilities of people with autism. Through intensive training, team building and caring for the community, Rising Tide sets its employees up for success. With this model, Rising Tide has a goal to provide people with autism with an opportunity to build a career and achieve an independent lifestyle. Rising Tide Car Wash has two locations: 7201 N. State Rd 7, Parkland, FL 33067; and 2970 N. State Rd 7, Margate, FL 33063. It is open seven days a week from 8 a.m.–7 p.m. For more information, visit www.risingtidecarwash.com, call (954) 344-1855 or email info@risingtidecarwash.com.
