One of the best parts of our community at My Annapolis Office is getting to know our members. We enjoy being able to learn more about what everyone does not just on a professional level, but on a personal one as well. We recently had the chance to learn more about Mike Napolitano and his business and we hope you enjoy getting to learn more about Mike as well – Take a look!
Tell us about your company:
Napco Group Inc aka Napco Building Services is a Facility Services company that provides several services to commercial buildings, general businesses, and state entities. Our services include commercial cleaning, all types of floor care, porter services and post construction cleaning. We also are equipped to disinfect mist spray locations that follow certain protocols for protecting employees and customers.
How did you get started in your industry?
Having experience in providing customers account management, implementation and customer service from my past life moving into the facility services business seemed like a good fit. Now almost 10 years later I have been fortunate to still be here and as the saying goes… No Turning Back Now!
What is about your company that most people do not know?
One thing I noticed the first few years in this industry is that most businesses think or assume the services we provide are just like everyone else offering the same services. In many cases you get what you pay for!
Many of my clients have done the cheapest option to have services done. However, in many cases the services provided did not meet expectations nor were they consistent.
Companies looking for facility services should be asking the following questions before making a final decision:
Chemicals – What chemicals does that particular company use on a daily basis? Are they off the shelf from a grocery store or Home Depot or a distributor? Do they meet the NEW requirements by CDC/EPA for disinfecting your location?
Insurance – Does the company you are going to hire have comprehensive insurance or simply the minimum. If something were to happen at your location does the company your hired have the proper insurance to cover any issue?
Staffing – The company you hire must have the ability to cover with staff to assure they will deliver the services contracted on a regular basis.
Napco Group does comply with all the items above to assure you are getting the best value for the dollars spent.
How did COVID-19 affect your business?
This is a good question as the virus has touched everyone. Unlike some of the businesses that were mandated to shut down, being a cleaning company by default makes us an essential service during these times. Companies started to ask about our processes and what we are using to combat the virus. This is why I mentioned it above. The good news for us is we were already using disinfectant products that were on the approval list on a daily basis. So, we did not need to change what we were using. However, some of our largest challenges were working with our staff. Multiple locations suspended their services for a couple of months so we had to do what we could to keep our people from leaving our company. Some workers were afraid to go to a location that someone had become affected. We had to assure staffing would be available to the locations still open and to bring back our workers once the locations reopened.
The cost for doing business went up. The costs for PPE items went up and the availability of those items became even harder. As a company we had to juggle where to get those products regularly to keep everyone safe as those items have now become part of the norm in our processes.
To date we have managed to sustain the proper procedures and as a fellow business owner we all hope everyone who has been affected by the virus is hanging in there!
Where do you see your business in 5 years?
Napco Group would like to extend our services moving into the future. Not geographically but the services we provide. The trend of companies hiring in-house as employees for the services we provide seems to be shifting more and more each year. Outsourcing to companies like myself are more cost effective.
I would like to extend our services into offering maintenance personnel to property management companies and building owners. The staff will have certain certifications and experience in that skill set position. This would make companies with multiple locations more flexible by utilizing our services as they can request us to be at any location on any given day. Napco Group also began to look into water and fire restoration services. However, the investment to get that service started is a bit expensive so timing on that may be further down the line.
Tell us about yourself:
My background comes from many years of being in sales, sales management, account management to owning my own business. My travels through each of my careers have taken me from New York to California and finally landing in Annapolis, Maryland in which I call home for the last 23 years.
I really enjoy spending time with family gatherings in the summer and holidays. My wife and I have 2 adult boys that also work for the business. There are also a handful of relatives and very old friends of mine that live within driving distance. When we all get together it is a lot of fun. My biggest joy is our granddaughter that was born in January.
I also enjoy traveling in the winter to somewhere warmer. Occasional boating in the summer (nice to have friends with boats). Walks and bike rides with my wife. Getting together with friends on the Eastern Shore for a bite to eat and catching sunsets.
In Annapolis we lean towards Sushi at Joss or Exotic Tacos at Vida’s. I also enjoy Brunch at Carrol’s Creek and an occasional burger for lunch at Pussers.
Why did you choose My Annapolis Office? How has it helped your motivation/productivity, or how has it helped your business grow?
My Annapolis Office was a great find. It is located close to where I live so there is some convenience for getting checks and if I need a meeting room. I find the staff friendly and their communication could not be better from arrivals of packages to newsletters. The experience far exceeds my expectations especially compared to our old suites.
At this time I do not have a web site however you can find our company on Google by typing in Napco Group Inc, or you can find me on LinkedIn.
