Being the fastest growing vehicle wash equipment company in Colorado and the rest of the west was never the stated goal of PDQ of the Rockies, Inc. President and founder John Brinkman.

However, success and growth found Brinkman and his company because of hard work, a commitment to excellent service, and a no fear risk taking attitude by Brinkman and his more than 50 employees.

At over 10 years old, PDQ of the Rockies today is a dynamic and diverse company with more than 200 sites throughout Colorado, Wyoming, Utah and Idaho.

Providing service and chemicals seven days a week, selling and installing all types of vehicle wash equipment, and exploring new avenues of vehicle wash operation with business partners are all components of PDQ’s success story.

“If there is an opportunity to wash vehicles, we want to be part of that process,” Brinkman said. “Our company is flexible enough to adapt to the needs of any customer or any situation when it comes to washing vehicles.”

That philosophy has its roots in Brinkman’s background as a National Sales Manager for a leading car wash equipment manufacturer and prior to that serving as a Development Engineer for Conoco, Inc.

“When I started PDQ of the Rockies I was excited about the Colorado/Wyoming market and the potential to offer vehicle wash customers a high quality piece of equipment with equally high quality service,” Brinkman stated.

What began as a one-man operation grew quickly in two years to a half dozen field technicians and new office/warehouse space in Highlands Ranch. Since 1999 PDQ has tripled its Colorado headcount, expanded to Utah and Idaho in early 2002, and has a like number of employees working for its sister company, Piranha Equipment L.L.C., in Nevada.

“We were very focused in the first few years on penetrating the oil retailer market, both the corporate and investor side of the business,” Brinkman said. “Moving forward, we will diversify our business unit in Colorado/Wyoming and points west.”

In fact, PDQ of the Rockies has over 200 sites it jointly owns and/or operates in Colorado, Wyoming and Utah with both corporate and independent oil retailers, including ConocoPhillips, Suncor, Loaf-N-Jug, Tesoro, and K-G Stores to name a few.

“Our revenue share program has met with great acceptance.” Brinkman said. “The benefits are obvious….reduced or zero equipment costs allowing our partners to move a project through the pipeline quickly without digging too deeply into their pockets to open a wash.”

PDQ’s business diversification doesn’t stop there. In February 2002, Brinkman and PDQ opened the first wholly owned PDQ of the Rockies Laserwash in Colorado Springs on Garden of the Gods Road. In October 2003 PDQ opened a second Colorado site at 53rd and Wadsworth in Arvada, consisting of two automatics and two self-serve bays.

The automatics, the new PDQ Manufacturing G-5 models, and the self-serve bays, Ginsan equipment, sit adjacent to a corporate Phillips 66 branded Suncor retail location.

“These sites not only add to our overall portfolio, but serve as a live showroom of what we can offer as vehicle wash company.” Brinkman stated.

PDQ of the Rockies is not simply a touch free automatic car wash company. The company is a distributor for some of the biggest and highest quality components in the vehicle wash industry.

Besides the PDQ Laserwash 4000 and G-5, Brinkman’s company also sells and services lines from Ginsan (self-serve and vacuums), Lochinvar (boilers and snow melt systems), Tommy (tunnel/conveyor), and truck/bus washes for state and local entities and distribution centers.

PDQ of the Rockies also offers the best of the cleaning solutions options to their customers. PDQ customers can choose from Blue Coral, and Cleaning Systems chemicals in addition to several products that PDQ manufactures in-house featuring Starchem and Novasoak, two presoak solutions.

“I always wanted our company to be the best and offer the best,” Brinkman said. “If we worked at meeting that goal then customers and growth were certain to follow.”

Based on the results during the last 10 years, that philosophy has obviously paid off in many ways.