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1227 Hardin Avenue
Sarasota, FL, 34243
United States
(941) 929-1630
Cruise Car, Inc. is the industry leader of manufacturing low speed vehicles with renewable energy applications. We produce premier passenger shuttles, light-utility vehicles and street legal vehicles. Our products are ideal for all hotels, resorts and universities.
Cruise Car’s flexible vehicle design and high-quality customer support continues providing solutions for Sourcewell Customer’s vehicle needs.
Read MoreDuring the pandemic, many companies are putting social distancing measures in place, including encouraging employees to work from home and separating employees in manufacturing facilities who usually work side-by-side.
Sarasota-based Cruise Car is doing both. Its office employees are working from home whenever possible, and warehouse/manufacturing employees are working 6 feet apart and divided into two teams.
The light utility, low-speed vehicle manufacturer, hasn’t seen a significant decrease in orders and instead has seen an increase in demand lately for its medical carts. Cruise Car offers four models of ambulatory vehicles that hold stretchers and can be customized with features including lights, sirens, PA systems and storage cabinets. “Right about the time the news of the pandemic started happening back in February, we started seeing a lot more requests for these types of vehicles,” Cruise Car President Nathan Kalin says.
VA facilities, medical centers, prisons, universities, municipalities and other government entities place orders for the medical vehicles, priced between $12,000 and $23,000. The company is making a couple dozen medical carts a month now that are being shipped nationally and internationally.
Amid changes to pandemic working procedures, the company is seeing an unexpected impact — there’s friendly competition between the two newly created teams, and employees are stepping up and taking ownership of tasks.
Also, although it’s hard to prepare completely for a pandemic, during this time Cruise Car has benefited from some forward-thinking actions. Last year, because of tariffs, the company diversified its supply chain. “We backed every supplier two, three, even up to four places,” Cruise Car CEO Adam Sulimirski says. “We had that in motion going into this. And we’re selling globally, so we’re also aware of what’s going on throughout Asia.”
Talking to family and friends in other areas also helped them guide preparation efforts and draw up an emergency plan. “We were probably a few weeks ahead of everyone,” Sulimirski says.
Fortuitously, the company had recently invested in upgrades to electronics, email systems, network platforms, headphones, laptops and more. In advance of the pandemic hitting the area, it set up email addresses for everyone, including warehouse workers who never had email before.
And then Cruise Car split employees into two teams, with warehouse employees working three days on and three days off. Even Sulimirski and Kalin are on different teams. “The teams are split all the way down,” Sulimirski says. “I haven’t seen Nathan in weeks. It’s been fun to watch the ‘go Team One’ and ‘go Team Two.’”
That’s one positive benefit of the current situation — a good-natured competitive spirit between the production shifts. “Everyone is working a little bit harder trying to outdo the other team,” Kalin says. “It’s something everyone has embraced and is responding well to. It’s a new challenge.”
Beyond the competitiveness, employees have stepped up lately, especially in the warehouse. “They recognize how special it is that they still have a job and that we’re paying 100% of their salary even if the work week is split up,” Kalin says. “They’re also contributing to the solution and resolving the crisis situation. I think the combination of all that is really providing some additional motivation and pride in what they’re doing.”
Cruise Car was able to create two teams because it previously ensured every role in the company was duplicated. “Having that backup or someone who understands a system is what allowed us to split the teams the way we have,” Kalin says. “That’s been a mission-critical component. We have been striving to make sure everyone’s role is duplicated and that someone can always back someone up. Now it’s proving to be invaluable.”
Customer diversification has also been critical. Although orders from customers in some areas might go down as a result of the pandemic, orders from customers in other industries might stay the same or increase. Sulimirski says, “We’re counting our blessings that we have a whole docket of orders to fill.”
Adam Sulimirksi and Nathan Kalin have thrived during the coronavirus crisis. Both are partners in a low-speed vehicle company in Sarasota.
A representative for a famous actor recently walked into Cruise Car — a Sarasota-based company that builds customized, low-speed vehicles for a wide array of clients — and was interested in making a purchase.
It seems the actor is building a resort in the Caicos Islands and was looking to buy some of the vehicles so guests can be transported in style from their villas.
The actor?
Robert De Niro.
Since taking over the company in 2017, Adam Sulimirksi — CEO and partner — and Nathan Kalin — President and partner — have turned it into perhaps the most successful business of its kind in the country. Sales have exploded in the past two years and largely by word of mouth.
Cruise Car has vehicles at over 1,000 properties in 40 countries, with clients including the United States government, universities, professional sports teams, resorts, hotels, airports, and parks. Vehicles can cost between $15,000 and $45,000 and the company reported $1.75 million in gross revenue in 2017. By the following year, it had grown to $10 million, an increase of 470%.
“There is no limit,” Sulimirski said. “If we do our job there is no reason why we can’t be a $50 million company.”
Cruise Car — founded in 2004 — assembles its vehicles on a four-acre site in Sarasota, though some are also made in Las Vegas. A staff of 18 has continued to work throughout the coronavirus pandemic, and no layoffs have taken place. In fact, business has been robust. The company has been up about 40% in the first quarter compared to last year and perhaps one reason has been the sales of ambulatory medical carts to health centers. Around 100 a month have been built recently.
Sulimirski, who formerly worked in finance in New York, said he took the virus seriously early on and attempted to prepare his company for it. They had conversations with a sub-supplier in China, who relayed the severity of the disease, and it really hit home, Sulimirski said, when he spoke to his brother, who works for JP Morgan Chase & Co. in New York.
“He never gets shaken and he was affected to the core,” Sulimirski said. “I thought, ‘Wow, this is big-time.’”
They devised a plan in February, well ahead of the curve, and assessed the company’s structure and functionality. Employees have since been split into two teams, with each team working three, 10-hour days in a row. They also work remotely.
“One takeaway is how much you can still get done remotely,” said Kalin. “I’ve been surprised by how well our team can function virtually. It’s been encouraging to watch.”
And yet several things have been missing. Shaking the hand of a client and looking them in the eye, for example. And it’s also hard to gauge body language on a computer. Another important aspect is traveling to a client to study aspects such as topography and other physical traits in a prospective client’s area. A university may have hills, for example, that must be taken into account when assembling the vehicle. Or a city may be cold.
Custom vehicles may include food trays and wheelchair ramps. Places to hold medical equipment, bikes, garden accessories, and propane, and gasses for the military. There is a large number of special things clients request, and Sulimirski and Kalin are always looking for ways to be creative. They might see a truck drive down the road and notice the way it holds water bottles, for example. They may incorporate part of what they see into their own designs.
“We’ve never had one car returned,” Sulimirski said. “We have a phenomenal track record. They are ready to go and we don’t get it wrong.”
Cruise Car has a $430,000 contract with the Veteran’s Administration and another with the Department of Homeland Security. Hong Kong Disneyland, Paramount, the Ritz-Carlton and Universal Studios are clients.
The University of Florida, Florida State, and the University of Texas are among the schools that are clients. Locally, Sarasota Ford and IMG Academies in Bradenton have purchased their vehicles. The Tampa Bay Rays use a customized EMS cart from Cruise Car for on-field injuries.
All vehicles are also street-legal and possess 17-digit VIN numbers. They can be used in residential areas. Some people have bought them to take their children to school at Out-of-Door Academy in Lakewood Ranch and Siesta Key, for example.
An apple cider resort in Virginia purchased a customized vehicle for $45,000 that was capable of transporting 14 passengers to remote countryside weddings on the property.
Celebrities, according to Sulimirski, are clients as well. Some fly in on private planes and helicopters to purchases the vehicles. Though Sulimirski won’t reveal most names, he did say De Niro has been a client for his resort and the company customized a vehicle for Tommy Lee, drummer for the rock band Motley Crue. Installed in Lee’s vehicle was a $6,000 stereo system.
“There’s no limit,” Sulimirski said, “and the reason we’re so optimistic is because no one is doing what we are doing.”
Sarasota-based Cruise Car is adapting to manufacturing under social distancing guidelines during the COVID-19 pandemic while handling increased demand for its carts for medical uses. Since the COVID-19 pandemic hit the United States, Cruise Car has been building and delivering to Veteran’s Administration facilities nationwide, large medical centers, university campuses and large corporations, such as AMR (American Emergency Response Inc.)
Cruise Car is using its custom-building abilities to create street-legal, low-speed vehicles that can accept and transport ambulance grade OEM stretchers (e.g. Stryker & Ferno). This allows spread-out facilities such as university and medical campuses to quickly and easily transport an injured or ill person. The company builds four varieties of the ambulatory medic carts and is producing up to 100 vehicles per month. “During the last few weeks, our focus has been building critical vehicles for essential government agencies to support their emergency fleet operations,” said Nathan Kalin, President of Cruise Car.
The company has been able to continue manufacturing by splitting its workforce into two isolated shifts, with one half the manufacturing employees working three 10-hour days and then the next half working three 10-hour days. During the day, the crews follow strict social distancing protocols and every night the facility undergoes a full wipe down with sanitizers and cleaning agents before workers leave for the day. Even the company owners, Adam Sulimirski, CEO, and Kalin are assigned to different teams. This allows the company to minimize interaction. If someone tests positive for the virus, that crew self-quarantines, but the other crew can continue working. No inter-team contact is allowed, and the office staff is encouraged to work remotely whenever possible.
“Our top concern is our employees’ health, but our team is really happy to work and to do their part to help mitigate this crisis,” Sulimirski said. “We’ve seen many of them step up big time into leadership roles. They feel empowered and they’re showing up with ‘can do’ attitudes. It’s a great feeling. I couldn’t be more proud of them.” Cruise Car has started offering enrichment programs to employees for their off days — business and self-improvement books and books on audio, online courses, software training, and so on, to allow their people to take advantage of their downtime and sharpen their personal skill sets.
Sarasota-based Cruise Car has concluded a contract to supply the U.S. Department of Homeland Security with a fleet of 19 custom-fabricated van carts equipped with over-sized motors and battery packs that allow 25 mph speeds with extra torque and extended driving ranges. The vehicles have been built and delivered to DHS distribution facilities in Georgia and New Mexico.
“We are seeing great success providing our custom vehicles to the federal government to varying, specific needs,” said Adam Sulimirski, President of Cruise Car. “DHS, like our other customers around the world, choose us because of the incomparable value we offer in-vehicle variety and price.”
The Federal Law Enforcement Training Center for the Department of Homeland Security in Glynco, Ga. purchased three custom van box vehicles in 2019. They required electric, street legal, low-speed vehicles with a very custom cargo van box. Cruise Car fulfilled that order, and the Department ordered 19 more.
Cruise Cars vehicles are engineered to endure aggressive use, challenging topography and the aluminum construction allows them to withstand rust producing moist air environments. They are custom-built to handle specific tasks. Cruise Cars are currently in use at more than 1,000 flagship properties worldwide, including brand names such as Disney, Universal Studios, the Tampa Bay Rays, Hilton Hotels, Ritz-Carlton, dozens of universities, every branch of the U.S. military, NASA, the National Park Service and major airports and municipalities.
The Sarasota-based company is shipping 28 vehicles to the Veterans Administration in California.
SARASOTA — Cruise Car Inc. has landed a $430,000 contract to supply 28 of its custom-built, low-speed vehicles to the U.S. Veterans Administration.
Cruise Car said it has begun shipment of four styles of the vehicles to the VA campus in Palo Alto, California.
It marks the latest of several contracts that the Sarasota-based company has been awarded by the Department of Veterans Affairs to provide its vehicles at such VA facilities as medical centers and cemeteries in 10 other states, the company said in a news release.
“Cruise Car has found a successful niche in selling to VA facilities nationwide,” president Adam Sulimirski said in the release. “We’ve also shipped many ADA carts that allow the transport of guests in wheelchairs.”
The VA campus in Palo Alto chose electric six-person shuttles, electric six-foot cargo vans, electric six-foot open cargo boxes and small gas-powered utility carts. Popular vehicles with the VA include a shuttle cart with extra leg room for easy loading of elderly, the company said.
The company says its vehicles can be found at more than 1,000 properties worldwide operated by Disney, Universal Studios, the Tampa Bay Rays, major hotel chains, universities and every branch of the U.S. military.
In 2013, Cruise Car CEO Adam Sulimirski offered Nathan Kalin a job doing the company’s marketing. It seemed like a good fit for Kalin, with a degree in English.
In his marketing role, Kalin worked on a website and press releases and started to move into sales for the company, which now has some 15 employees and did $10 million in revenue in 2018. “It takes a little while to get the hang of it and really get the pitch down,” he says. “After about a year or so, I turned out to be a pretty good salesman.”
Kalin, now the company’s president, learned about the world of business through online research and voracious reading. “As an English major, reading was one of my favorite things,” he says. “That’s one trait that has been very helpful for me. I’ve read just about every business book I can find.”
He also built up business knowledge by tapping into his network of friends and family in the field and by working with Sulimirski day-to-day. “I knew almost nothing about business before I actually started this job in 2013,” he says. “It was real on-the-job training.”
Cruise Car President, Nathan Kalin (Left), and CEO, Adam Sulimirksi, (Right).
In 2015, Kalin leveraged the value he was bringing to the company into a junior partnership. He had two business partners — Sulimirski and company founder Ken Chester. By the beginning of 2017, Sulimirski and Kalin had taken over Cruise Car. “As I had more and more responsibility, that created the incentive to constantly look for better ways of doing things,” Kalin says.
As a company leader, Kalin likes to talk with employees about projects and goals and then ask the employees how they would accomplish them. “I’m a big proponent of giving other people ownership of projects,” he says. “If you know something needs to be done, instead of directing people what to do and telling them how to do it, I think it’s always better to bring them into a collaborative discussion. It’s the most effective way of getting things done and having people be happy to do those things.”
Kalin also thinks it’s important to constantly update employees about where the company is going. That way, he says, they feel ownership and pride in what they’re doing.
Coming into Cruise Car from a non-business background has made Kalin realize life is a learning process. “This career has been filled with challenges, and there will continue to be more of them,” he says. “I’m at a point where I’m looking forward to the challenges.”
Tyler Naquin being carted off Rays Field after collision.
Cleveland Indians' outfielder, Tyler Naquin, had a violent collision with a wall in late August (2019) as he chased down a deep fly ball, necessitating the Tampa Bay Ray's Medical Crew and EMS Cart to help carry him off the field. This EMS unit was specially designed to accommodate the Ray's Stadium's equipment and medical needs. We're happy to learn Tyler is making a strong recovery.
Tampa Bay Rays Medical Cart.
Cruise Car offers 4 EMS models. Each vehicle is tailored to the specific needs of the individual customer to ensure the specific task it’s meant to perform is accomplished. The Tamps Bay Rays required an electric EMS cart that could seat 2-Passenger and one full ambulance cot/stretcher with room for additional medical equipment. Cruise Car integrated the OEM Ferno cot equipment with this unit so the Rays Stadium could utilize their existing stretcher.
Cruise Car EMS Designs
SARASOTA, Fla. (October 1, 2019) Capitalizing on their unique strength of custom-designing street-legal vehicles, Sarasota-based Cruise Car has won a contract to provide a fleet of 23 eight-passenger vehicles to the University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley campuses in Edinburg and Brownsville, Texas.
But Cruise Car did it in a way that met what appeared to be competing priorities at the university and, in the process, may change this slice of the market by making a model where all eight-passenger seats are front-facing.
Digital Rendering Design for Texas Shuttle System (Left) - Vehicle Built by Cruise Car (Right)
UT needed eight-passenger vehicles to shuttle students around each campus. Eight passengers is the maximum allowed in this class of low-speed vehicle — which is U.S. Department of Transportation-certified to travel on roads with speed limits of less than 35 mph — because of a weight ceiling of 3,000 pounds. The standard market configuration is six forward-facing seats and two rear-facing seats. But UT also wanted to maximize student safety, and people in the two rear-facing seats are vulnerable in rear-end collisions.
This was a challenge for those bidding on the contract but was a strength for Cruise Car due to the company’s modular vehicle design providing tremendous building flexibility.
“Designing a new type of vehicle model to meet a customer’s specific application requires critical thinking and real creativity,” said Nathan Kalin, President of Cruise Car. “But part of our company’s core competency is to use our modular basis to provide unique, customer-centric vehicles.”
Cruise Car created a model with all eight seats facing forward, meeting UT’s dual priorities of maximum passenger count and maximum safety. The back occupants in this design are protected by the body of the vehicle, not just a step plate.
This arrangement won Cruise Car the contract, but also delivered a solution to that market problem of safety for the back two passengers. Cruise Car knows there is a strong and growing demand for such vehicles and because this was a success with UT, the company is now going to add this configuration of maximizing passengers and passenger safety to it’s line of standard models.
“There is clearly a need in the market for this style of vehicle and we’re in the perfect position to supply that need,” Kalin said.
Adam Sulimirski says he’s allergic to the phrase, “Well, that’s the way we’ve always done it.”
As CEO and partner of Sarasota-based Cruise Car, he’s making sure that thinking is nowhere to be found at his business, from executive meetings in the office to the warehouse where employees manufacture the fast-growing company's low-speed vehicles.
Always looking for new ways to do it has paid off well for Cruise Car, which was founded in 2004. Cruise Car’s growth — its payroll has jumped nearly fourfold, for one example, from four people to 15 in two years — comes on several fronts. Space, like employees, has also grown rapidly, from a 2,000-square-foot facility in 2017 to a 7,000-square-foot facility to an 18,000-square-foot facility today. And there’s already talk of another expansion.
Cruise Car has even been approached by investment firms and is exploring the idea of taking on a partner as a way to increase cash flow and capture more market share. “It’s an exciting option to consider,” Sulimirski says.
The nimble company has implemented many changes recently, and it has more in the works, constantly chasing improvements and greater sales. That’s the advantage of being a small company, President and Partner Nathan Kalin says. There’s no red tape, so it can implement new ideas quickly.
Cruise Car has built a company around vehicles for specific purposes that can be customized, from seating to storage. It's an approved vendor with the U.S. General Services Administration, and its biggest clients are the U.S. government and military, universities, hotels and resorts, state and local municipalities, museums, airports and state parks. In particular, it has seen major growth from resorts, universities and municipalities. (It also now assembles electric Moke vehicles for Moke America.)
Beyond customization, the company recently scored a big win: Sourcewell, a cooperative purchasing program that works with government, education and nonprofit organizations, chose Cruise Car for a national program for low-speed vehicles makers, along with Yamaha and Polaris. “It immediately put us on the map with 55,000 municipalities and universities,” Sulimirski says.
A trend toward low-speed vehicles has also helped. The vehicles are appealing to a variety of organizations because of lower purchase prices and costs to operate compared to regular vehicles. Cruise Car vehicles range in price from $7,500 to $20,000.
Most people discover Cruise Car through word of mouth, Sulimirski says, and the company is working to further promote its name recognition through branding. Last year, for example, it added nameplates to the back of its vehicles.
Right now, most assembly is done in Sarasota, with some in Las Vegas. Then vehicles are shipped nationwide. Cruise Car used to outsource that part of the process, but Kalin says it started doing its own shipping and delivering six months ago. “It’s nice to have a branded truck show up,” he says. Plus Sulimirski says it allows the company to control when its vehicles get delivered.
Customers buy vehicles site unseen — a challenge but also an advantage for the company. Because Cruise Car doesn’t have manufacturing facilities across the country and has no third-party dealers, its overhead is lower. That means it can keep its prices competitive, Kalin says.
Calls come in worldwide from people interested in Cruise Car’s vehicles. Recently, an executive from Hong Kong Disneyland came to Cruise Car to place an order. “It’s exciting to see who finds us,” Sulimirski says.
When customers call, Cruise Car employees interview them about their needs and specific features they want. Sulimirski says they often tell customers about vehicles they made for similar organizations, following up with, “But you know what an improvement would be?” Cruise Car also collects customer feedback to determine what to incorporate into the next round of improvements.
Sulimirski and Kalin say the company is constantly working on streamlining. Warehouse employees are encouraged to suggest ways to shave off time from certain processes. “We’re always looking at the clock,” Sulimirski says. “Where can we cut time down? It’s always a game of catching up to our orders.”
To encourage efficiency, Cruise Car employees are incentivized with a bonus system tied into monthly production goals. It’s meant to both increase production and create a team environment, so employees share in success together. “Just about everybody has an incentive to go above and beyond,” Kalin says.
In its quest to continue growing, Cruise Car is also thinking about getting into retail sales. Cruise Car’s 90-day turnaround has kept it out of retail so far, but it’s working to reduce it. That involves managing cash flow, so it has existing inventory, Kalin says, and that’s the biggest challenge with growth — cash flow in an inventory and materials-heavy business.
It’s easier dealing with a fleet order of 24 vehicles than an order for a single vehicle, Sulimirski admits, but that doesn’t mean lower-quantity sales aren’t valuable. “We’re not into sales prevention,” he says. “Every sale is great.”
Sarasota-based Cruise Car Inc. has won a contract to supply Hong Kong Disneylandwith its unique, custom-built low-speed vehicles. The contract, which was approved this week by the Hong Kong Department of Transportation (DOT), is the first time Cruise Car has sold directly to Disney; past contracts have been through Disney’s vendors.
Golf cart-style, low-speed vehicles are currently capped in Hong Kong at about 500 units, which required the need for the Hong Kong DOT to approve a license to bring in additional vehicles. Cruise Car worked closely with Hong Kong Disneyland’s management team and Hong Kong authorities to obtain this approval. After meeting in Sarasota with the Hong Kong-based engineering team, a formal purchase order was issued with a multi-year opportunity for Cruise Car to ultimately replace their 60-vehicle fleet.
Hong Kong Disneyland initially selected two Cruise Car models: a four-passenger cart with a built-in storage locker and caged cargo basket, and a light utility cart with a 4-by-6-foot bed and a 10-square-foot storage locker within the body. Hong Kong Disneyland required the vehicles to be aluminum to avoid rust, and selected a fully programmable and powerful motor controller package. Cruise Cars are engineered to endure aggressive use, challenging topography and a salt-air environment. They are custom-built to handle specific tasks and are currently in use at over 1,000 flagship properties worldwide.
Year Founded: 2004
ABOUT
Cruise Car is the leading American manufacturer of customized, street-legal, LOW-SPEED vehicles. The company has redefined the market by successfully engineering a diverse product line, allowing national fleet buyers to custom-order need-specific vehicles at highly competitive price points. Cruise Car’s unique product design and marketing approach has been rewarded with contracts to supply federal agencies including military bases, embassies, municipalities, universities, non-profits and multinational resorts and theme parks. The Cruise Car factory is located in Sarasota, Florida, and vehicles with a maximum speed of 25-mph have been shipped both nationwide and to over 30 countries.
Adam Sulimirski learned early in his career that a cubicle in corporate America was not where he was meant to be. “I started in finance, working for a big investment firm in New York. I wore a headset and I knew this wasn’t going to work,” he said.
Sulimirski needed to return to his entrepreneurial roots. “It goes all the way back to high school where I perpetually knocked on neighborhood doors presenting myself for any menial job. Throughout college I pursued similar opportunities. It is embedded in who I am,” he said.
He had heard about Ken Chester, CEO and founder of Cruise Car, who had the idea of putting solar panels on golf carts. After a short conversation with him, Sulimirski created his opportunity. “I went in and chatted with him, and he wasn’t hiring, but I loved what he was doing. So after our meeting, I started calling around and asking people if they knew anything about his product.”
Later that same evening, Sulimirski found a break where he least expected it. “I was on the sidelines of my son’s soccer game and another parent who was involved with Sarasota Parks mentioned she was actually looking for that exact type of vehicle. So, I found a couple leads in a matter of 24 hours, and I went back to Ken with what I found. My involvement really came from continuing the conversation and having the initiative to look for opportunities where there were none,” Sulimirski shared.
Almost 10 years later, Sulimirski hasn’t looked back. Chester retired in 2016 and generously offered Sulimirski and Nathan Kalin an opportunity to take ownership. Today, Cruise Car stands alone as the world’s premier designer and manufacturer of street-legal low-speed vehicles with renewable energy capabilities. “We are probably the most flexible, low-speed vehicle company in the country.”
Sulimirski explained that although solar was the hook that brought Cruise Car attention, sales catapulted after the company’s responsiveness to an increased demand for renewable energy. “During the Gulf War, fuel was $400 a gallon given the need to protect fuel lines, so the military asked if we could build customized solar-electric low-speed vehicles. That was our fast track on a federal level and we were recognized nationwide, which really pried the door open,” he said. “Then NBC/Universal, Paramount Studios, Warner Brothers, and Sheraton Resorts came in for a wide variety of vehicles. As soon as you have some credibility, people think, ‘hey if they’re looking at it, then I should too.’”
Keeping a Competitive Edge
To keep up with big-name clients, Cruise Car must keep their competitive edge by focusing on price, customization, client relationships, quality and a quick turnaround time.
The whole process begins with building a relationship with the client and finding out what they’re looking for. Out-of-state clients often get a face-to-face visit from Cruise Car, which Sulimirski considers extremely valuable. “We interview people to determine their specific needs, then build a custom product based on their input.”
Finding success in customization, Cruise Car created five car lengths, all of which can be modified with interchangeable seat and utility pods for the individual customer. Sulimirski added that their efficiencies in production keep them competitive and allow them to deliver vehicles in record time. “We deliver a custom order in under 90 days, in contrast with our competitors who offer limited models at a more expensive price point with longer lead times. Customization is our core competency. We figure out what the customer wants and deliver it quickly at a very competitive price-point.”
An Employee Driven Work Culture
Sulimirski understands the role that work culture plays in a company’s success. Knowing this, he emphasizes a work-hard, play-hard environment. Everyone is equally valued and included in company conversations. “We have pride in what we are doing,” he said. “We remind our employees that every job is critical to the success of the company.”
Cruise Car often hires those who might otherwise be challenged to find work. “Staffers include formerly incarcerated and recovering addicts who deserve the opportunity to start fresh and demonstrate excellence,” Sulimirski explained. “We also work with Suncoast Career Source, utilizing programs to hire workers from migrant families seeking to learn tangible skills.”
“Our team’s young and extremely committed,” he said, “yet our environment is fun and exciting. Growth obviously comes with stress, but we all enjoy attacking daily challenges. My business partner, Nathan Kalin is only 27 years old and he told me, “I just can’t imagine doing anything else.” Nathan brings a millennial can-do attitude and has successfully helped push the company forward on all fronts.
What it Means to be an Honoree
Cruise Car was selected as an honoree for this year’s Florida Companies to Watch, which recognizes second-stage companies located in Florida. Honorees demonstrate high performance, growth and innovation in the marketplace, and Sulimirski describes the nomination as a surprise.
“It’s a reminder that we are doing something right. So often you’re in the trenches fighting the fight every day, making hundreds of decisions every week, and you don’t look up to realize ‘wow we are doing something pretty special,’” he shared. “Being recognized by people we admire is humbling.”
Advice for Aspiring Entrepreneurs
For upcoming entrepreneurs facing similar challenges on their journey, Sulimirski offers a few things to consider.
“Control what you can control. Don’t forget, every entrepreneur goes through ups and downs. Set a goal and aim towards it despite the knocks that inevitably come your way. Know that the most successful entrepreneurs have gone through major hardships,” he shared.
He went on to remind entrepreneurs at every stage, things aren’t always what they seem.
“It’s so easy to look at a success story and presume that it’s been easy sailing and think they’re so lucky. No, it hasn’t always been easy. They’ve worked hard.”
Lastly, be open to conversation. “I’m constantly walking around with a pen and paper in my pocket, taking notes. People are so giving and generous with their information. Never go into any conversation thinking you know it all. Just listen. The information is endless.”
Honorable Community Support
Most team members at Cruise Car are involved with a charity of their choice, including Project 180, Take Stock in Children, Southeast Guide Dogs, the Humane Society of Sarasota.
Left to Right: Mark Huey, President of the Economic Development Council; Larry Thomson, President of Ringling College of Art & Design; Adam Sulimirski, President of Cruise Car, Inc.
The 2017 Ringling College Innovation by Design Award went to Adam Sulimirski, president and co-owner of Cruise Car Inc. The annual award was established in 2015 and is given to an individual who has used creativity in design to create a successful product and to solve market problems.
Cruise Car builds specialty electric golf carts and utility vehicles. The custom low-speed vehicles with renewable energy capabilities — some with solar panels on the roof — can carry up to 16 passengers. Some are built for wheelchairs, one’s an ambulance, some carry cargo and many are street legal where speed limits do not exceed 35 mph.
Larry Thompson, president of the Ringling College of Art and Design, said the innovation award went this year to a company in an industry “you wouldn’t think innovative” and “completed a customer-driven redesign” of every aspect of its products to satisfy clients. — Chris Wille, Herald Tribune
