Pompano Beach Welcomes Rising Tide Car Wash, Boosting Autism Employment in South Florida
- Durée & Company
- Jun 12
- 3 min read
Rising Tide Car Wash, a pioneering social enterprise with a primary mission to employ adults with autism, is proud to announce that during a May 2025 special exception hearing, the City of Pompano Beach Zoning Board of Appeals unanimously approved the company to open its fourth South Florida location. As the only multi-unit, family-owned car wash in South Florida, Rising Tide plans to open its Pompano Beach location in Q4 2026 or Q1 2027.
With over 100 employees, 80% of its workforce with autism, and three locations in South Florida ― Parkland, Margate and Coral Springs ― Rising Tide Car Wash is one of the largest employers of people with autism in the U.S. The company has hired more than 400 neurodivergent individuals to date. It has an alumni network of more than 175 individuals with autism who have moved on to new jobs or pursued higher education, proving the value that people with autism bring to the workforce. Pompano Beach car wash will provide at least 25 jobs for individuals with autism.
The new car wash will be located at 2851 W. Atlantic Blvd., Pompano Beach, Florida 33069 on a 1.2-acre lot. It will be built as a custom car wash from the ground up, and feature state-of-the-art equipment, free, self-serve vacuum stations and drive-thru lanes. The Pompano Beach location will have a special members-only vacuum area and amenities. Jack Brown of GBM Architecture is the architect.
“We are proud to open our fourth South Florida location in Pompano Beach, where we will provide the best car wash membership experience on the market, and help individuals with autism realize their capabilities, gain confidence, make friends, gain financial independence, and have a place to call their own,” said Rising Tide Car Wash Co-Founder and COO Thomas D’Eri.
“This wouldn’t be possible without the support of many Broward County elected officials who have advocated for Rising Tide Car Wash for more than a decade,” he continued. “They understand the critical importance of inclusive employment opportunities for individuals with autism and related disabilities.”
Rising Tide Car Wash has created an innovative model that intentionally designs the work environment in a way that empowers individuals with autism to thrive and produce extraordinary results.
Rising Tide’s unsurpassed car wash services, ranging in price from $12 to $36.45, include the Clean, Tide Glaze, Tide Gloss, and Tide Guard services. It also offers a Ripple Club Unlimited Wash Club membership for a fast and convenient way to keep cars shining year-round.
According to Drexel University’s A.J. Drexel Autism Institute, young adults with autism who worked for pay in their teenage years are more than two times as likely to secure employment later in life. In addition, according to a study by Dr. Michael Alessandri, executive director of the University of Miami Center for Autism and Related Disabilities, Pompano Beach is home to an estimated 2,355 working-age individuals with autism, of whom 1,900 are possibly without jobs.
Thomas D’Eri and his father John D’Eri, co-founder and CEO of Rising Tide Car Wash, created the innovative social enterprise to develop a scalable solution for 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. Rising Tide Car Wash has created an innovative model that intentionally designs the work environment in a way that empowers individuals with autism to thrive and produce extraordinary results.
The D’Eri family also created Rising Tide U to empower entrepreneurs, business leaders and changemakers unlock the transformative power of inclusivity and autism employment.
Thomas D’Eri is also the author of the best-selling book, “The Power of Potential,” a book that highlights employment opportunities for individuals with autism and addresses common challenges businesses face.
According to estimates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring (ADDM) Network, about 1 in 31 (3.2%) children aged 8 years have been identified with autistic spectrum disorder (ASD). Autism is a complex neurological and developmental disorder that impacts social skills, communication, speech and behavior.
For more information, please visit risingtidecarwash.com.