Heartland Carwash Association plans mobile roadshow across Minnesota this fall
The October 14 event will bus operators between manufacturing plants and working car washes in the Minneapolis market for a full day of tours and networking.
By The Car Wash News Staff
3 min read
The Heartland Carwash Association is trading the traditional conference hall for a tour bus this fall. The trade group has scheduled its 2026 HCA Carwash Roadshow, billed as "Land of 10,000 Washes," for October 14, 2026, in the Minneapolis area, according to reporting from Professional Carwashing & Detailing.
The one-day program is built around giving owners, operators, and other industry professionals a behind-the-scenes look at how car washes and the companies that supply them actually work. Attendees will begin and end the day at Mystic Lake Hotel & Casino and travel together aboard a luxury tour bus between stops.
What the day includes
The centerpiece of the roadshow is a set of manufacturing facility tours, including visits to Autowash Systems Inc. and Ver-Tech. The itinerary also includes stops at both operating and in-development car wash sites, letting participants compare different approaches to design, construction, equipment selection, and daily operations.
Beyond the tours, the schedule folds in breakfast and lunch, a happy hour, and structured networking time, plus special hotel rates at Mystic Lake for those who need lodging. HCA executive director and publisher Kristen Corbisiero said the goal was to build something outside the usual conference format, an event where members can leave the office and see how other operations run.
Corbisiero framed the smaller, mobile setup as a deliberate choice to spark the kind of direct peer conversations that larger shows can make difficult. "Some of the best ideas in our industry come from simply talking with another operator who has already faced the same challenge," she said. Registration is being handled through the association's website.
Why it matters for operators
For operators, the value of an event like this is less about the amenities and more about the access. Touring a manufacturer's plant offers a firsthand look at the equipment and processes behind products that a wash depends on every day, which can inform smarter purchasing and maintenance decisions. Walking through both established and still-developing sites gives operators a rare chance to study construction choices, site layout, and equipment configurations without the sales-floor pressure of a trade show booth.
The peer-to-peer angle is the other draw. Regional associations tend to concentrate operators who face similar labor markets, weather conditions, and competitive dynamics, so a conversation on the bus with someone who has already solved a chargeback, staffing, or throughput problem can be worth more than a formal session. Operators in the Heartland region who have limited time for multi-day national conferences may find a single-day, tightly packed format easier to justify.
The roadshow model also signals a broader trend worth watching: regional groups experimenting with formats that prioritize hands-on learning over lecture-style programming. Operators who want to gauge whether that approach delivers should treat the day as reconnaissance, arriving with specific questions about equipment reliability, build costs, and operational metrics they can bring home and apply.
