Award-winning custom car builder finds solutions and growth with U.S. Bank

Later Dayz Customz in Iowa looks to expand, support future workforce

Dave Loparco has been interested in building and taking things apart since he was a kid.

“I’ve been building cars since I was probably 13 years old,” said Loparco, who co-founded Later Dayz Customz in 2018 in Council Bluffs, Iowa. “I used to work on bicycles, tear them apart. I never was happy with a bike I had… and it kind of escalated from there.”

That escalation took Loparco from working on hot rods and motorcycles in his driveway to a garage space that takes up half a city block, giving him space to work on everything from the guts of cars to custom paint work. Each car and truck is a passion project for Loparco’s customers, he said, but it can be expensive. 

“Everybody’s like, ‘Can I throw it on my credit card?’” said Loparco, who has banked with U.S. Bank for decades. “At first, I was like, there’s no way I possibly could but then BJ hooked me up.”

BJ Pirie is a small business specialist with U.S. Bank. He helped Loparco set up a credit card processing machine at his shop through Elavon, a U.S. Bank payments subsidiary, to make it easier for Loparco to accept payments as well as cover the cost of parts needed for vehicles quicker.

“Being able to have money on hand from his customers accepting cards instead of waiting for a check to clear or potentially bounce, Dave has more security and peace of mind,” Pirie said. “Having just one payments terminal was impactful to him and allowed him the flexibility he needed to grow his business.”

Loparco, who became 100% owner of Later Dayz Customz last year and whose team has hundreds of car show awards to their name, is also thinking about the future. That might be an expansion into nearby Omaha in a few years, he said, but he’s also thinking about what could be next for his industry.

“I’d like to bring in about another five employees to train them and teach them what we know [in the next couple of years],” said Loparco, not long before a local high schooler he and his team are teaching arrived at his shop. “Nobody knows our talent unless we pass it on, so – by passing it on to the younger generation – hopefully it keeps these cars around.” 

Check out the video below to learn more about Later Dayz Customz.