Since 2002, Tim and Dorothea Ku-DiPietro have been Valvoline Instant Oil Change franchise owners in Virginia. Beginning with the opening of a location in Sterling, Virginia, the couple’s network of shops has grown to 14, seven of which offer vehicle repair services in addition to oil changes.
When navigating to the franchisees’ online home for their stores, however, site visitors aren’t greeted with pitches for flash sales or promotions. Instead, the website’s homepage is topped with a simple headline: “Dedicated to Serving Our Community.”
The Ku-DiPietros navigated rough waters to get their quick lube business off the ground a generation ago, and now that they’ve achieved stability, their family business is making it a priority to lift those around them, whether it’s employees or community organizations.
“If you do the right things and help people, you can do anything, really,” Ku-DiPietro says.
A Way of Life
Before becoming a VIOC franchisee, Tim Ku-DiPietro spent 10 years as a store manager for a bustling Jiffy Lube in the Northern Virginia area that routinely serviced 300 vehicles on a weekend day.
After a decade with Jiffy Lube, Tim and wife Dorothea scraped together proceeds from the sale of a 1966 Corvette Stingray convertible that Tim had restored with his father while growing up to open his first VIOC franchise location of his own. The Corvette was a labor of love, inherited after father Robert’s passing. Selling it wasn’t an easy decision, but ultimately, it was one the Ku-DiPietros made, Dorothea says, because it represented an opportunity build “a living, breathing legacy.”
Their hope and optimism were tested quickly. Shortly after opening the Sterling store, daughter Anna was diagnosed with leukemia at the age of 7.
“To go through that while still trying to build a business is, pretty much, a living hell. … It was important for us to rise above and not be defined by that,” Dorothea Ku-Pietro says. “The business was really a means to make sure we were remembering what we had, which is access to medicine and living in an area where she could get treatment to survive.”
Twenty-three years later, Anna now serves as the business’ operations manager. Son Michael is director of finance and development, and another daughter, Katy, works as the marketing manager. Recently, 17-year-old daughter Reese has begun working in an administrative role.
Taking care of their community has become a way of life (and business) for the Ku-DiPietro family, punctuated by a stated mission to “change lives through stewardship.” The philanthropy has taken on various forms. More than 200 local groups, including high schools, recreation-level sports teams, and area churches, participate in the VIOC Rewards Program, for example. The initiative offers supporters 10% off a service invoice at the Ku-DiPietros’ VIOC locations, and 10% is donated back to the participating partner organization.
Additionally, the Northern Virginia VIOC stores have sponsorship agreements with local organizations, typically between $250 and $500, as well as tuition assistance for full-time and part-time employees. VIOC service centers are also encouraged to choose charities to support, and for each charity chosen, a weekend is dedicated to raising funds. While the Ku-DiPietros will occasionally engage in larger partnerships with other franchisees, they tend to focus on smaller programs that directly serve the local communities in which their stores operate.
“The more we grow, the more people that we can impact,” Dorothea Ku-DiPietro says. “That is our main driver behind wanting to continue to grow our number of stores and to be a big part of the Valvoline franchise.”
Paying It Back
A little less than 300 miles south of the Ku-DiPietros’ VIOC stores, the Pons family has brought a similar community-focused mindset to operating Chapel Hill Tire. Launched in 1953, the company was acquired by Al Pons in 1964. His son, Marc Pons, has served as president of the brand for more than 20 years, now presiding over 12 locations with a 13th on the way.
The significance of being a longtime fixture in Chapel Hill and the contributions of those who came before them isn’t lost on the family, Marc Pons says.
“We’re a 70-year-old business,” he says. “We’re drinking from wells we did not dig.”
The Pons family’s appreciation for their community has manifested itself in a variety of ways. Chapel Hill Tire is a partner of Wheels4Hope, a not-for-profit organization that helps economically challenged families by providing affordable vehicles. Shops take in donated vehicles and make necessary repairs to ensure the vehicles are safe and reliable. The vehicles—typically valued at between $2,000 and $5,000—are then sold to families in need at a price of $500, which covers North Carolina title and licensing fees.
For more than a decade, Chapel Hill Tire has also organized 12 Days of Kindness, a program in which its customers nominate an individual who is always giving of themselves and asking nothing in return. Twelve recipients are then selected from a pool of nominees that usually tops 100. The program recipients receive free care for their vehicles, and their inspirational stories are shared on Chapel Hill Tire’s social media channels.
In the fall of 2024, Chapel Hill Tire organized a food and resources drive for victims of Hurricane Helene in western North Carolina. The company also runs a food program that provides backpacks full of goods that local students can take home to feed their families.
In the month of May, teachers are offered free oil changes on their vehicles. Also within the realm of education, Chapel Hill Tire has partnered with area high schools and a nearby community college to produce automotive education programs that have served as a gateway for students to eventually be hired on as Chapel Hill Tire employees.
The various community initiatives derive in large part, Pons says, from Chapel Hill Tire’s five core values:
- Strive for excellence.
- Treat each other like family.
- Say yes to customers and each other.
- Be grateful and helpful.
- Win as a team.
“I think in any community you go to, that's what small business does,” he says. “And so, we're just trying to do our part with looking to pay it back to the community that gives us so much.”
Getting Involved
Both Dorothea Ku-DiPietro and Marc Pons have recommendations for fellow quick lube operators who would like to make a difference in their communities.
Getting involved with your local chamber of commerce is a great place to start for making connections and learning about a community’s needs, Pons says. Reaching out to local churches can be great partners as well, he adds.
“Get involved, meet people, and learn what's going on in your community,” says Pons.
He says that talking to customers and learning their stories goes a long way as well, a thought echoed by Ku-DiPetro.
“Be fearless. Just ask,” she says. “You can have people in the bay ask as part of the process (of a service visit). You can ask when you’re out and about. Be open to it. A lot of people will come and find you as a result of it. Don’t wait. Just be fearless and ask, because you’re not asking for a sale. You’re asking, ‘Do you want to partner? We’re happy to help you.’ It will return dividends way beyond a profit.”
Find out what causes matter most to your employees as well, Ku-DiPietro adds.
“Empower your people to have a voice for what matters most to them,” she says. “Starting there gives you a direction to focus on who they want to focus on, which then has a whole cycle of employee retention, increased engagement, and happiness.”
Ultimately, Ku-DiPietro concludes, taking an active role in the community serves a bigger purpose for quick lube operators beyond keeping vehicles on the road.
“Helping others really makes anything possible because it really is about building relationships,” she says. “You can die tomorrow. Things can be done. Businesses fail. But at the end of the day, whether people will come and work with us and then their paths change, or a customer comes and then they move away or something changes, we just hope that they leave better than when we met them.”
