Talia Hodge
The sun glints off a lineup of shiny cars exiting Sgt. Clean’s Car Wash in Strongsville on a brisk March day. While some other car washes are fully automated, a cluster of Sgt. Clean’s employees greets drivers, directing them quickly and seamlessly through gates.
The operation runs smoothly thanks to the leadership of founder and director of growth and development Brian Krusz. The former Marine has trained employees to focus on stewardship, respect and other values he learned while enlisted.
“We have people present that are willing to help and are caring, loving. We hire really, really hard,” Krusz says. “We find the good men and women to perform that service, waving and smiling.”
Putting people first has allowed Sgt. Clean’s to grow to a business that washes over a million cars a year. It has expanded from a dozen to 80 full-time employees and to seven locations, including Medina, Green and Massillon. It has also consistently made the Vet100 fastest-growing veteran companies and Inc. 5000 fastest-growing companies lists.
But getting there was challenging. Krusz, who previously worked in the convenience store business, started by managing a car wash, rescuing and remodeling other car washes and relaunching them as Sgt. Clean’s in 2013.
“Our first location had 176 liens on the property, so we’ve always been used to adversity,” he says.
Discipline helped him overcome hurdles, and he attributes some of the success to the unlimited plan that offers customers unlimited washes at any location. Its revenue has allowed Krusz to expand and rebuild the Strongsville North location with state-of-the-art tech like a safer self-loading belt and anti-collision sonar that tracks cars, so multiple cars can travel through at once and get different washes. It creates a model for new Streetsboro and Cuyahoga Falls locations that are set to debut this summer and fall, respectively. But most importantly, it helps him make Sgt. Clean’s a viable career choice by giving employees paid time off, medical plans, a 401(k) with a match and more.
Krusz hires veterans too, such as former Marine Ernie Jones, who started as a part-timer at the Parma Sgt. Clean’s while also working at a foundry, which closed during the COVID-19 shutdown. Jones asked Krusz if there were full-time openings, and Krusz found him one. Now Jones is assistant general manager at Parma.
“There’s camaraderie. I felt more confident with him behind me saying, Hey, don’t worry. Everything’s gonna work out well. It made me stronger,” Jones says. “I get a little choked up about it.”
Jones has many veteran and active-duty customers at Parma who are so thankful they get a 10 percent discount and free car washes on Veterans and Memorial days. Service is a part of Sgt. Clean’s operation, as it collects food bank donations and donates money to local schools. Plus, Krusz joined another local Rotary Club member on a trip to Poland in April to provide aid to Ukrainian refugees.
Connecting with customers has helped bring them back. Krusz noticed one coming frequently and asked him why. He told him that he bought his car after six years of saving and he’s never owned anything else in his life.
“There’s more to washing cars,” Krusz says. “We’re affecting people’s lives. We’re helping them take care of their most prized possession.”
sgtclean.com
