Rising Tide Car Wash hires 25 workers with autism

Coral Springs, Florida – The business that employs mostly autistic workers, Rising Tide Car Wash will open a new location in Coral Springs on July 7.

The company’s third facility is joining its locations in Parkland and Margate. The new car wash has already created 25 new jobs for people in the community with autism.

According to a press release announcing the Coral Springs location, father and son co-founders John and Tom D’Eri created the car wash chain to “develop a scalable solution to employing individuals with autism”.

They were inspired by watching John’s son and Tom’s brother Andrew, a vibrant young man with autism, struggle to find his place in the world. “We are pleased to continue to grow throughout South Florida and provide employment opportunities for persons with autism,” said John D’Eri, the company’s CEO. “Our third location is intended to be 100 percent neurodivergent…We will offer young adults with autism the opportunity to realize their capabilities, gain confidence, attain financial independence, and make friends, all while providing a top-notch car wash experience to the community.”

Its Coral Springs location is the first for-profit business ever operated entirely by workers with autism and related neurodivergence, according to the company.

The facility will be open daily from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. and is located on a one-acre lot at 10340 Royal Palm Boulevard.

The custom-built facility features state-of-the-art equipment and offers two drive-thru lanes and 17 free, self-service vacuum stations.

Services range in price from $8 to $25.

Rising Tide Car Wash is one of the largest employers of people with autism in the U.S. Its Parkland and Margate locations employ 80 people with autism, in addition to the 25 autistic workers in Coral Springs.

Rising Tide has hired over 170 individuals with autism to date. Eighty percent of the chain’s workforce is autistic.

The unemployment rate for Americans with autism is believed to be around 85 percent.