The Kar Wash business in Monte Vista has a new owner but a familiar face. Thomas Espinosa, who also owns his alignment business on the same property, has purchased the car wash. After managing the business for ten years, Thomas decided it was time to make things more permanent. He looks forward to making some improvements to the property and to make it more accessible. One of his pastimes is to ride Harley trikes. He hopes to add a motorcycle wash bay in the near future. He and his wife, Tammy, have many people they want to thank for making this possible for them. They have been assisted by Anthony & Kathy Skeff, Donn Vigil and Donna Wehe from the Small Business Development Center. They received a lot of support from their family, especially Grace, Leonard, LaShonda, Angel and Dezarie. Their kids really have been encouraging them to “go for it,” because they grew up around the business and felt a lot of pride in being a small business owner in Monte Vista. Tammy works for the Tri-County Senior Citizens and has also received support from her co-workers and the residents. They told Tammy and Thomas they are happy to see the business stay in local ownership. Thomas reflected, “This has been a dream of mine since working here as a caretaker of the property for a number of years. After much consideration and feedback from others, I felt it was the right time to make this happen.”

The resources at the SBDC are free and confidential. Thomas first contacted the SBDC office when it was formerly housed at Adams State College. He then called Donna Wehe when he saw she was offering a workshop in the area. He didn’t want to attend the workshop; he wanted assistance in evaluating the business, negotiating the terms and conditions of the project and other advice. The office of the San Luis Valley SBDC is 587-5151. He hopes to continue offering the same friendly service with both his alignment and brakes business as well as under the new enterprise, Tomas’s Car Wash, LLC. The business is located at 1745 Grande Avenue, on the East side of Monte Vista (on the North side of Highway 160)-. He can be reached at 719-850-0925.