July 28, 2023 • 6 mins
Tom Hoffman Jr. has been involved in the family business nearly his entire life. If you couldn't guess from his last name, that family business includes the Hoffman Car Wash-- one of New York State's most well-known car washes! Tom has been serving as the Chief Executive Officer for 23 years and has been working in the family business for 46 years.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
It's Dug Gaudy with another episode ofCEOs you should know. Joining us today
is Tom Hoffman, junior of HoffmanDevelopment. He is the CEO there we
know him better is Hoffman car Washes. Hey Tom, good morning, Good
morning Doug. How are you can'tdrive around the Capitol region without seeing your
name? Does that a point ofpride for you? It should be?
It sure is. You know,we've been here since nineteen sixty five.
(00:23):
My mom and dad started the companyand we've been growing ever since and trying
to keep everybody's car clean. Doyou have the picture of that first car
wash still in the house somewhere?Yeah, they're they're kicking around for sure.
You know. My dad was aprofessional bowler. My grandfather owned Bowling
Alley. We started a self servedcar wash on Central Avenue near Fuller and
(00:43):
the poor Bowling Alley. About sixmonths later, got hit by lightning and
burned to the ground. So wewere thrust into the car wash business for
twenty five cents a cycle, andI can I still remember when we raised
the price to thirty five cents.Separating quarters and dimes on the family room
floor are so Yeah, we've beendoing this a long time. See the
(01:03):
pun master in me thinks the ironyof a strike taking out a bowling alley
is something, But it's too soonfor that time. I under I withdraw
your honor. That's right. Sowhen you were brought into this world and
you were raised here in the Capitolregion, did you always kind of know,
you know what, some day I'mgonna take over this business or did
you think I'm going a whole differentway. Well, you know, some
(01:26):
of the best people that work withus really love cars. And when I
was in seventh grade, I startedat our Latham Circle full service car wash.
We had just purchased it. Sowe don't do this anymore, by
the way, but seventh and eighthgraders driving cars at a car wash that
was like the time of my life. Was really fun getting inside of all
those cars, nice cars, youknow, regular cars, but it was
(01:48):
fun. How is the business changedfrom all the way back in the nineteen
sixties to where you are in thetwenty twenties. Well sure, so you
know, when people purchase a car, it's likely the second big purchase behind
their house, so you know,people really want to take care of their
car. And when subscription services likeNetflix and Amazon came into play. The
(02:09):
car wash industry adapted that technology andyou know, and now we have you
know, token eyes transactions, sowe don't have everybody's credit card information anymore,
but we can charge people every monthon a subscription. And now people
can wash their car as many timesas they want and keep their investment,
you know, clean, shiny andwell protected. I feel like, you
(02:30):
know, we're a nation of rookassaults. Now. We want it our
way, we want it now,and if we don't get it, we're
gonna be really mad. Have youseen that? And do you have like
special quirks and things you got todo? Well, we certain don't.
We don't close anymore for bad weatherfor sure, because everybody's got an unlimited
subscription and they want to come ineven if it's raining out. So again,
(02:52):
our car washes have really increased inand how busy they are, and
we're building more locations, you know, to satisfy all the all the customers
with the subscription, you know,the unlimited plan. So yeah, people
are watching more frequently, for sure. I know you started with one back
in the sixties with mom and dad. How many do you have now and
(03:13):
how many employees do you have Yep. We just open our twenty fourth location
and cohos on seven eighty seven.We have three more under construction, one
in Oneana, one in Moreau,and one in Half Moon. And um,
we have about five hundred and fiftyemployees at this time. So yeah,
we've we really have grown the companyover the years. What makes Hoffman
(03:34):
so special? What makes you sosuccessful? Well, absolutely the people we
work with and employe. Um,we just try to hire the best quality
people. You know, we payreally well, we have great benefits.
We're actually at one hundred percent employmentright now. We're we're doing really well
even though there's you know, aso called employment shortage right now. So
(03:57):
we're doing great. So the goodnews is your name is everywhere and you
can see it. Although that comeswith the double edged sword kind of thing,
right because hey, everybody knows you. You grew up here, and
b everybody wants a favorite, don'tthey. Well, yeah, I mean
it helps to be visible in thecommunity. And you know, and again
we do a lot of charity work. We have a Helping Hands program where
any not for profit organization go toour website to our Helping Hands link and
(04:21):
we give them a whole bunch ofcar washes and they get to keep half
the revenue. So hundreds and hundredsof organizations around the community have benefited from
you know, really going door todoor, you know, to the mom's,
dad's, relatives and friends and raiseda lot of money for all kinds
of different things. Soccer teams,school trips, you name it. We've
(04:42):
had helping hands partner raising money inthe Capital District. For charity, you
must get tons of requests. Arethere a couple in particular that are near
and dear to your heart? You'rein the Capitol region. Well, our
title charity is the Juvenile Diabetes ResearchFoundation and Interfaith Partnership for the Homeless in
Albany. You my sisters on theirboard. They they bought a building down
(05:08):
in Albany and renovated it and wewere again the title sponsor, and you
know they named the building after thecar washes um the JDRF. We've been
with them for over twenty three years. I think we've had are the title
sponsor of a golf tournament. I'mthe chapter president at the moment, and
and just two great organizations that wework very closely together with and again,
(05:30):
amongst all those hundreds, if notprobably over a thousand different other charities in
the area that we've helped full employment, new companies and businesses come in,
new shops, charity work with companiesnear and dear to your heart, Tom,
life seems to be going pretty wellfor Hofman Development right now. Well,
you know, we work hard atit. You know, my mom
and dad, you know, builtthat that ethic into us as a company.
(05:56):
And you know, we keep ourplaces looking great. My father really
had a green thumb, and wealways try to keep our our locations beautiful.
We have our own greenhouses, Weplan our own flowers and maintain them
throughout the year to make our places, you know, the most beautiful car
washes we can. And again we'revisible in the community. We're local,
and you know, our reputation iseverything. So we work really hard at
(06:18):
it. Ten years from now,how many Hoffman car washes are we going
to have? Well, I think, you know, we'll be crossing over
thirty pretty soon, maybe we'll getinto forty. Again. We're a family
business, you know, we're notgoing anywhere. We're just trying to create
opportunities for the people we work with. And uh, and keep growing the
company. You know, it helpsthe local economy. It keeps everybody's car
(06:38):
clean, everybody's happy. That's TomHoffman Junior, the CEO of Hoffman Development.
He is the CEO you should know. I'm Doug Gaudy from WGY Mornings
It's Dug Gaudy with another episode ofCEOs you should know. Joining us today
is Tom Hoffman, junior of HoffmanDevelopment. He is the CEO there we
know him better is Hoffman car Washes. Hey Tom, good morning, Good
morning Doug. How are you can'tdrive around the Capitol region without seeing your
name? Does that a point ofpride for you? It should be?
It sure is. You know,we've been here since nineteen sixty five.
(00:23):
My mom and dad started the companyand we've been growing ever since and trying
to keep everybody's car clean. Doyou have the picture of that first car
wash still in the house somewhere?Yeah, they're they're kicking around for sure.
You know. My dad was aprofessional bowler. My grandfather owned Bowling
Alley. We started a self servedcar wash on Central Avenue near Fuller and
(00:43):
the poor Bowling Alley. About sixmonths later, got hit by lightning and
burned to the ground. So wewere thrust into the car wash business for
twenty five cents a cycle, andI can I still remember when we raised
the price to thirty five cents.Separating quarters and dimes on the family room
floor are so Yeah, we've beendoing this a long time. See the
(01:03):
pun master in me thinks the ironyof a strike taking out a bowling alley
is something, But it's too soonfor that time. I under I withdraw
your honor. That's right. Sowhen you were brought into this world and
you were raised here in the Capitolregion, did you always kind of know,
you know what, some day I'mgonna take over this business or did
you think I'm going a whole differentway. Well, you know, some
(01:26):
of the best people that work withus really love cars. And when I
was in seventh grade, I startedat our Latham Circle full service car wash.
We had just purchased it. Sowe don't do this anymore, by
the way, but seventh and eighthgraders driving cars at a car wash that
was like the time of my life. Was really fun getting inside of all
those cars, nice cars, youknow, regular cars, but it was
(01:48):
fun. How is the business changedfrom all the way back in the nineteen
sixties to where you are in thetwenty twenties. Well sure, so you
know, when people purchase a car, it's likely the second big purchase behind
their house, so you know,people really want to take care of their
car. And when subscription services likeNetflix and Amazon came into play. The
(02:09):
car wash industry adapted that technology andyou know, and now we have you
know, token eyes transactions, sowe don't have everybody's credit card information anymore,
but we can charge people every monthon a subscription. And now people
can wash their car as many timesas they want and keep their investment,
you know, clean, shiny andwell protected. I feel like, you
(02:30):
know, we're a nation of rookassaults. Now. We want it our
way, we want it now,and if we don't get it, we're
gonna be really mad. Have youseen that? And do you have like
special quirks and things you got todo? Well, we certain don't.
We don't close anymore for bad weatherfor sure, because everybody's got an unlimited
subscription and they want to come ineven if it's raining out. So again,
(02:52):
our car washes have really increased inand how busy they are, and
we're building more locations, you know, to satisfy all the all the customers
with the subscription, you know,the unlimited plan. So yeah, people
are watching more frequently, for sure. I know you started with one back
in the sixties with mom and dad. How many do you have now and
(03:13):
how many employees do you have Yep. We just open our twenty fourth location
and cohos on seven eighty seven.We have three more under construction, one
in Oneana, one in Moreau,and one in Half Moon. And um,
we have about five hundred and fiftyemployees at this time. So yeah,
we've we really have grown the companyover the years. What makes Hoffman
(03:34):
so special? What makes you sosuccessful? Well, absolutely the people we
work with and employe. Um,we just try to hire the best quality
people. You know, we payreally well, we have great benefits.
We're actually at one hundred percent employmentright now. We're we're doing really well
even though there's you know, aso called employment shortage right now. So
(03:57):
we're doing great. So the goodnews is your name is everywhere and you
can see it. Although that comeswith the double edged sword kind of thing,
right because hey, everybody knows you. You grew up here, and
b everybody wants a favorite, don'tthey. Well, yeah, I mean
it helps to be visible in thecommunity. And you know, and again
we do a lot of charity work. We have a Helping Hands program where
any not for profit organization go toour website to our Helping Hands link and
(04:21):
we give them a whole bunch ofcar washes and they get to keep half
the revenue. So hundreds and hundredsof organizations around the community have benefited from
you know, really going door todoor, you know, to the mom's,
dad's, relatives and friends and raiseda lot of money for all kinds
of different things. Soccer teams,school trips, you name it. We've
(04:42):
had helping hands partner raising money inthe Capital District. For charity, you
must get tons of requests. Arethere a couple in particular that are near
and dear to your heart? You'rein the Capitol region. Well, our
title charity is the Juvenile Diabetes ResearchFoundation and Interfaith Partnership for the Homeless in
Albany. You my sisters on theirboard. They they bought a building down
(05:08):
in Albany and renovated it and wewere again the title sponsor, and you
know they named the building after thecar washes um the JDRF. We've been
with them for over twenty three years. I think we've had are the title
sponsor of a golf tournament. I'mthe chapter president at the moment, and
and just two great organizations that wework very closely together with and again,
(05:30):
amongst all those hundreds, if notprobably over a thousand different other charities in
the area that we've helped full employment, new companies and businesses come in,
new shops, charity work with companiesnear and dear to your heart, Tom,
life seems to be going pretty wellfor Hofman Development right now. Well,
you know, we work hard atit. You know, my mom
and dad, you know, builtthat that ethic into us as a company.
(05:56):
And you know, we keep ourplaces looking great. My father really
had a green thumb, and wealways try to keep our our locations beautiful.
We have our own greenhouses, Weplan our own flowers and maintain them
throughout the year to make our places, you know, the most beautiful car
washes we can. And again we'revisible in the community. We're local,
and you know, our reputation iseverything. So we work really hard at
(06:18):
it. Ten years from now,how many Hoffman car washes are we going
to have? Well, I think, you know, we'll be crossing over
thirty pretty soon, maybe we'll getinto forty. Again. We're a family
business, you know, we're notgoing anywhere. We're just trying to create
opportunities for the people we work with. And uh, and keep growing the
company. You know, it helpsthe local economy. It keeps everybody's car
(06:38):
clean, everybody's happy. That's TomHoffman Junior, the CEO of Hoffman Development.
He is the CEO you should know. I'm Doug Gaudy from WGY Mornings
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