1973
AVW Founded
How It All Started
AVW Equipment was founded by Milovan “Mike” Vidakovich in 1973 in Stone Park, IL. After emigrating from Serbia, Mike worked many jobs to make ends meet in the U.S., including factory work. However, walking into work one day, Mike found that the doors were locked. The factory had closed, and Mike was placed in a tough position without a job. Needing to provide for his family, he quickly found an opportunity in the car wash industry.
Mike began tinkering with the equipment on the job and believed he could improve the designs by simplifying them. When he shared his ideas with his boss, his boss said they did not have time for the changes. But Mike was not deterred, and he took the equipment home to work on in his spare time. With his natural inclination for ingenuity, Mike re-engineered the equipment and impressed his boss with the innovation.
From there, Mike went into business with a partner to service car wash equipment in Addison, IL. Eventually, he went out on his own and established AVW Equipment with the support of his wife, Dusanka. Today, AVW Equipment operates across the U.S. and Europe. AVW Equipment continues to grow, becoming one of the country’s largest independent car wash manufacturers, with thousands of car wash installations around the globe.
