A legend in our industry passes.

James A. Belanger

Born December 21, 1932 Died May 1, 2008

Survived by Wife Nancy, 1 brother, 2 sisters, 5 children and 9 grandchildren

Founder of Belanger, Inc.

Introduced Soft Cloth to Car Wash Industry

Holds dozens of industry related patents

Jim started Belanger Inc. in 1969 as a coated abrasives manufacturer developing novel products for metal finishing. The abrasives division was very successful. In fact, it provided the research funding for Belanger to get into the car wash industry in the early 70’s. His expertise and core competency in metal finishing piqued his interest in washing cars without disturbing the high gloss painted finish. Jim’s search for a better way to wash a car led to the development of soft cloth and launched the equipment line. As they say, the rest is history.

If given the chance, he would have wanted to tell all of his friends “good bye” himself. He may have said something like; “Work hard and play hard. Love your wife, your kids and your guys like it’s the last day of the world. Be thankful for everything you have because life is fragile and it can all be gone tomorrow. Give back and help others. Your word is your bond, don’t break it. Now, let’s go get a cool one.”

Jim Belanger changed our industry for the better.

He was hard as nails when he needed to be - and soft and kind whenever someone need him.

Thanks Jim - for making this a better place.