Splash Car Wash elevates 25-year veteran Jason Frank to COO
Frank started as an assistant manager in Norwalk in 2001 and now oversees operations for a chain that has grown from seven to 83 locations.
By The Car Wash News Staff
3 min read
Splash Car Wash has promoted Jason Frank to chief operating officer, capping a 25-year climb through the Connecticut-based chain's ranks. According to reporting from Car Wash Business Center, Frank will oversee the company's operational strategy and execution as Splash continues to expand its footprint.
Frank joined Splash in February 2001 as an assistant manager at the company's Norwalk location, when the operator ran just seven sites. He was promoted to site manager within six months and continued advancing through the organization over the following two decades.
A quarter century of internal promotions
Frank's path through Splash included district manager in 2004, where he oversaw five locations, followed by regional manager, regional director in 2020, and senior vice president of operations in 2025. Early in his tenure he earned the company's internal "Best of Splash" recognition.
His responsibilities over the years have spanned multi-site operations, equipment maintenance, site selection, new location development, facility design, and mergers and acquisitions. Splash said Frank brings 34 years of car wash industry experience in total, having started in the business at age 15.
In his new role, Frank will focus on operational excellence, team development, consistent customer experiences, and support for Splash's growing network. CEO Dan Petrelle said Frank "understands our business from the ground up." Frank noted that the chain has grown from seven locations to 83 during his time with the company.
The promotion reflects Splash's stated emphasis on developing leaders internally rather than recruiting exclusively from outside. Splash is headquartered in Milford, Connecticut, and operates full-service and express formats across its network.
Why it matters for operators
Leadership moves at established chains offer a window into how growing operators structure their management as they scale. Splash's decision to fill its COO seat from within, promoting someone who started as an hourly-level site manager, signals a bet on institutional knowledge over outside hires at a moment when the company is still adding locations.
For operators building out their own benches, Frank's trajectory is a reminder that retaining and promoting frontline talent can pay off at the executive level. A COO who has personally managed districts, overseen equipment maintenance, and worked on site selection carries operational context that is difficult to replicate with an external recruit. That continuity matters most during expansion, when consistency across sites becomes harder to maintain.
The move also underscores a broader staffing reality in the industry: experienced multi-site operators are in demand, and chains that grow their own leaders insulate themselves somewhat from a competitive hiring market. Operators weighing succession planning may want to look at whether their own high performers have a visible path upward, since clear advancement tracks can improve retention at every level of the organization.
As Splash pushes toward further growth, how Frank balances standardization with the flexibility needed across different wash formats will be worth watching for anyone running a multi-location business.
