Mid-Atlantic Services was started by Michael and Rosemary Everton of Seaford in 1980. The company, now Mid-Atlantic Services, A-Team Corp, now has a staff of over 200 employees and has served the state’s janitorial needs for over 34 years.
MAS was originally limited to cleaning residential homes and restoring tile floors for department stores, convenience stores, and factories. The company then started to receive commercial clients, providing services to DuPont, Con-Agra, and other factories in Sussex County.
In 1985, MAS incorporated as a woman owned company and became Mid-Atlantic Services, A-Team Corp. It turned from in-house janitorial cleaning to contractual janitorial cleaning and currently cleans over one and a half million square feet from Wilmington to Roxanna.
Presidential inspiration- In the spring of 1991, Rosemary Everton read that President George Bush was coming to speak to the graduating class of James H. Grove Adult High School, where she went to school.
Everton wrote a letter to the school’s principal saying how proud she was that the president was speaking to students at her alma mater.
Though it wasn’t easy to get a seat in the Seaford High School auditorium,, the James H. Grove School principal gave Everton two tickets, for herself and her husband.
During the president’s speech, he spoke about Rosemary Everton’s journey.
“And finally, let me share a story about Rosemary Everton. She does not belong to today’s class — she graduated with the Groves class of 19 years ago. But her story ought to give you a glimpse of possibilities to come,” he said.
The president told how Everton got married and dropped out of school at the age of 15. When she was 16, with a baby and with a full-time job, she went back to school, taking lessons at Grove four nights a week for two years.
“I learned math, English, and history — but something more important, I learned that there’s nothing I can’t do with patience and perseverance,” said Bush, quoting Rosemary’s letter to the principal.
Following the speech, Everton was inundated by reporters looking to interview her. But despite her celebrity moment, and the company’s success, the road to that success came with more challenges.
Everton was pregnant with her and her husband’s fourth child when her sister was killed in an automotive accident, leaving her two sons without a stable home. The Everton’ nephews joined the growing family.
Then, with Everton still pregnant, their house caught on fire. Not long after their youngest son was born, Rosemary was involved in a car accident.
The Evertons were able to expand their home to a five-bedroom home and purchased an eight passenger van to hold their large family.
As for the company, it has grown to meet the demand of its contracts. The company now maintains 185 to 200 employees while serving more contracts.
“Thirty years ago, people told me the first million was the hardest to reach. I kept saying, ‘we’re not going to get there. We’re not going to get there.’ I couldn’t imagine that kind of income coming into our business. We got to the first million in 2005 and turns out they were right. Contracts just kept on coming in after that. It was amazing. But when the president spoke in 1991, we were nowhere near our first million. Minimum wage back then was around $4, so businesses were very different. Today, we are grossing over $4 million a year, and I never thought we would do that either. I’m grateful and proud of that achievement,” Rosemary wrote in a book she is writing.
Services- Mid-Atlantic Services has the following capabilities to serve its customers:
Staffing Plan
Facilities are staffed according to the total measurable square footage of the building.
Adequate staff and time are allowed per building.
Additional resources are also allocated to each facility for monthly, quarterly, and annual projects, including, but not limited to, floor projects, on-call emergency requests, and terminal cleans.
They employ an operations manager, area county managers, day & evening area supervisors, day porters, and general janitorial staff to maintain facilities. They have office locations in all three counties, respectively, located in Wilmington, Dover, and Seaford.
The corporate office is located in Seaford and gives full support to all staff throughout the day and evening.
Staffing Contingency Plan
With over 200 employees in all three counties, they have protocols in place to cover any staffing shortages, even on an emergency basis. This would include day and evening hours.
A call-in timekeeping system is utilized, and area supervisors and managers are alerted when a facility does not have the appropriate clock-in time on any given shift. When/if this occurs, the building is serviced by other general janitorial staff, the day porter, the supervisor, or the manager. Ongoing employment advertising can be found on their website, Indeed, and Facebook.
Staff Training
They have Standard Operating Procedures that all staff is required to review and sign prior to their building assessment.
General janitorial staff receives hands-on manager training for a minimum of one week, which includes a review of cleaning responsibilities and floor care maintenance training.
Building specifications are reviewed with each employee, as well as the vendor protocol for entering and exiting facilities.
Knowledge of the user and storage of various chemicals are reviewed, as well as the assigned storage areas within each building and knowledge of the location of the SDS.
All staff is fingerprinted and cleared through Capitol Police.
Web-based educational videos offered cover topics of OSHA, Bloodborne Pathogens, Sexual Harassment in the Workplace and Social Media Work Policies.
MAS offers the following services: customized commercial cleaning, carpet cleaning, upholstery cleaning, hard surface cleaning and restoration, porter services, VCT services, and EPA approved disinfecting.
Let there be Christmas lights- The Everton family recently stepped up to keep a Seaford tradition alive over the holidays.
Beth Barczak was saddened at the news that Cut ‘Em Up Tree Care Service would no longer be able to present the massive Christmas display that attracted visitors far and wide. She took her own children faithfully to the display that used to be housed on Old Furnace Road.
Kenna and Cheryl Nethken announced they wished to donate their entire Christmas Decoration collection – worth over $30,000 – to an organization that would be willing to take on the task. They still wanted the lights to stay as close to Seaford as possible. And, they wanted the lights to be used to help raise money for charities.
An idea popped into Barczak’s head, her family could take on the challenge. They had the space to display the Nethkens’ Christmas lights – and more besides. Her mother and father, Rosemary and Mike, were also active in the community. The exertions agreed to hosting the lights on their farm at 8558 Elks Road in Seaford. Now, Mid-Atlantic Services, A-Team Corp is welcoming the public to “A Drive-Thru Christmas on Merry Lane.”
“We are going to start small this year, but with intention. We want to know what we can handle,” said Barczak. “We’ve been having a meeting every Monday night since August, putting this together. It’s bigger than ourselves. We want to give back to the community. Kenna and Catherine (Shufelt, Cheryl’s daughter) have been instrumental in transferring the decorations here. Kenna has offered time and advice to help. That support is important.”
Rosemary Everton added, “We wouldn’t be able to do this without his support. Thank heaven these kids are young.”
She said she would never be able to do it herself, but is thankful for her daughter Beth, as well as her former daughter-in-law Jamie, who not only helps her in the business, but is also Beth’s “right hand” in this process of setting up and spreading the word about the charities that will benefit from donations during the Christmas light spectacular.
Jamie Everton said, “I feel if the community is patient with us, they’ll get a lot out of it in time.”
To keep updated, go to “A Drive-Thru Christmas on Merry Lane” on Facebook.
For more information on Mid-Atlantic Services, A-Team Corp, visit ateamcorp.com or see the Mid-Atlantic Services A-Team Corp Facebook page.