Core America Marks 22 Years of APPA Collaboration

Campus custodians may not perform stage illusions, but their work reflects a comparable level of skill, precision, and behind-the-scenes coordination. From restoring spaces after high-energy student events to preparing lecture halls for international symposiums—alongside essential day-to-day maintenance—custodial teams consistently deliver results that keep a campus running smoothly.

Core America, an independent, tech-driven consultancy that transforms custodial operations for K-12 schools and postsecondary institutions, helps make this magic happen for clients ranging from Harvard University and Duke University to Blue Valley Schools.  

Today, Core America partners with more than 350 campuses across the U.S.—half of which are APPA member institutions—to conduct program operational assessments for in-house or outsourced programs, advising on outsourced custodial strategy, training in-house frontline staff, and leading new technology deployments, all in service of building long-term improvements and shaping modern cleaning practices. 

As Core America Founder, Tony Maione Sr., and President, Anthony F. Maione, reflect on their company’s origin story—a journey initiated by Tony Sr.’s part-time cleaning job more than 50 years ago—they attribute their success to staying up-to-date on emerging trends while remaining grounded in the fundamentals. With 22 consecutive years of APPA partnership, father and son shared with us their vision for what the future holds.

From the Pandemic to Today

As a student at Cornell University, Tony Sr. started a series of cleaning industry-related businesses on the side while pursuing studies to become an accountant. Those plans were swiftly redirected when one of his clients invited him to provide subject matter expertise and consulting to his cleaning organization, laying the foundation for what would become Core America in 1995. 

Since then, Core America has stayed true to its mission of putting their expertise and industry data into the hands of end users, even amid major market transitions such as the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Almost overnight, the pandemic ushered in heightened sanitation standards that were essential not only for campus operations, but for life itself. With technology and strategic planning at its side, Core America rapidly adapted new cleaning requirements across its client portfolio. 

Today, the business faces another inflection point. As the industry shifts its focus back to efficiency, Core America is helping teams optimize labor in alignment with facility usage, adapting cleaning operations to post-pandemic levels of building occupancy. 

But this adaptation is only the beginning. 

University budget cuts. Sustainability benchmarks. Custodial labor shortages. 

These constraints demand creative solutions that are not only operationally efficient, but also cost-effective. 

As Core America helps cash-strapped research institutions optimize labor allocation, the company is also supporting sustainability objectives through cleaner, greener waste streams. To address the custodial skills gap, Core America has developed boots-on-the-ground training programs that equip the next generation with foundational skills. Leveraging APPA’s educational pillars, these programs empower junior talent to perform tasks ranging from quality inspections to cross-functional collaboration with landscaping, grounds, and maintenance teams. 

“It’s easy to come in from 40,000 feet and guide someone with their program, but you must understand how changes impact frontline workers, too,” said Tony Maione Sr. “You want to create a better environment for them as well. And that’s our goal. For everyone in the client organization to win, from the vice president to the people at the end of the mop.”

Technology Drives Connected Custodial Operations

More than 20,000 users across the globe now utilize Core America’s subject matter expertise and software for custodial, janitorial, and environmental services (EVS) operations. This number is the outcome of a steadfast journey during which the company championed tech-driven custodial operations at a time when adoption across the industry was unheard of. Since 1998, Core America has worked to shift the narrative that resigned custodial services to the lowest-tech arm of facilities management. 

Anthony notes that these efforts have paid off over the last five years, as custodial teams increasingly embrace change and pursue tech adoption. 

As institutions rely more heavily on campus-wide facilities management systems and smart building controls, custodial services must be integrated into broader digital workflows. From work-order platforms to project scheduling, custodial operations operate as one interconnected element within the whole-building ecosystem.

Core America’s in-house platforms address this need through mobile apps that manage quality assurance benchmarks, digital tools that track work progress, software to optimize staffing and resource allocation, and online checklists designed to ensure COVID sanitation-standard compliance. 

“We’re using our software to develop dynamic routes, so depending on how often a space is used, custodians can follow these models to allocate their workload effectively,” said Anthony F. Maione. “As the models learn occupancy patterns and demographic changes, teams can continue refining and optimizing work assignments.”

The Smart Inspect platform is a hallmark of the software suite. Referencing APPA’s “Five Levels of Cleanliness" criteria, Smart Inspect enables customers to evaluate custodial operations through a data-driven lens. Utilizing machine learning, Smart Inspect helps predict costly risks, generate key reports, and support remote, third-party audits conducted by cleaning experts. Its evolution since its 2002 inception epitomizes Core America’s path toward universal tech enablement.  

“Initially, Smart Inspect was a checklist that complimented our consulting services, but was completed with pen and paper,” said Tony Maione Sr. “Little by little, we ran pilots, integrated external databases, and transformed the data into an app. That evolution reflects how technology has been the biggest change in our company.”

What’s Next With APPA

Core America endeavors to make every customer “the best expert in the room.” By equipping custodial teams with data, organizations are empowered to showcase the value of operational improvements, from more efficient cleaning methods to digital work-assignment platforms. In an environment of tightening budgets and competing priorities, having data-backed insights is essential to securing investment in custodial operations and supporting the workforce that makes this vocation their livelihood. 

APPA’s partnership has long served as an invaluable resource in this effort. Core America’s growing team of 20 senior consultants and support staff rely on foundational resources such as APPA’s cleanliness scale to complement leadership development and staff training programs. Foundational training underscores a consistent truth: while technology may change, fundamentals and values endure.

Core America hopes to go even further with APPA by contributing custodial-specific insights that further strengthen operational standards and best practices.  

More broadly, this more-than-two-decade partnership reflects a core value at the heart of Core America’s mission: the understanding that the industry is part of a larger community. In that spirit, 10% of all Core America profits are donated to charitable causes.