50th Year Anniversary

What a long journey it has been! Interior Maintenance Company was started in 1973 by Chuck and Maria Mongiello with a hard work ethic instilled by their parents, and a modest goal of keeping a family fed. 

After dating in high school, Chuck Mongiello and Maria Esposito married in 1964 and soon after their first child Charles was born.  Chuck worked multiple jobs with an entrepreneurial spirit to pay the bills and find his way in the dynamically changing world of the 1960’s.  Working as a teacher, he started and ran a sports camp during the summers, and picked up odd jobs cleaning carpets.  Second child Matthew was born, and Maria founded an art gallery while raising their two young boys as Chuck helped with custom frame offerings for their customers. 

In the early 1970’s, a friend introduced Chuck to a local bank that let him clean their carpets and an opportunity to provide them with daily custodial cleaning.  One bank turned into multiple banks and then a nearby private school.  Chuck had to hire staff and Interior Maintenance Company got its start!  The early years were challenging with Maria doing the bookkeeping and Chuck supervising at night and visiting customers during the day.  Both did a lot of the cleaning themselves while raising their two boys. 

They moved the company out of their house garage in 1979 and into a small office in Havertown, Pennsylvania.  Slowly growing from banks and schools to large office buildings, Interior Maintenance Company (IMC) continued to grow its janitorial services throughout the 1980’s.  Sons Chuck and Matt worked as much as they could helping in the field at night and during the summers.  By 1987, IMC moved to a larger office and was employing over one hundred and thirty people performing janitorial services to clients all over the Philadelphia and surrounding areas.  

In 1990, IMC was feeling the pinch of tough economic times as state taxes were increased, commercial real estate values plunged, and competitors joined the industry with just a mop and a bucket.  Chuck knew it was time to diversify IMC’s services to keep current clients and find new customers.  He identified air duct cleaning early on as a good option for IMC to pursue.  Sons Chuck and Matt, working at IMC while getting their college degrees, agreed with the move.  

Fast forward to 1995 and IMC had grown leaps and bounds.  IMC had found its niche in providing quality HVAC air duct cleaning services and moved into a 20,000 square foot office and warehouse facility located in Lansdowne, Pennsylvania.  Working full time in the family business, Chuck and Matt helped grow the company and extend IMC’s footprint to serving the entire mid-Atlantic region from New York to Virginia and frequently beyond. 

Realizing the advantage of offering a wide variety of services, IMC continued to expand its HVAC cleaning services in the 2000’s and added mold removal, kitchen exhaust hood cleaning, high surface ceiling cleaning and other specialty cleaning.  IMC’s quality reputation and knowledge of the industry created all kinds of opportunities over the years to complete extraordinary projects.  Cleaning air conveyance systems at the National Security Agency, Baltimore National Aquarium, and FAA airport towers from Guam and Hawaii to Kansas City and Fort Worth, have all created memorable experiences.  

Working in a family business is not always easy, especially with the constant stress of a difficult industry and a tough labor market.  Chuck and Maria retired to Florida in 2005 and sons Chuck and Matt continued to expand the business.  Maria, the matriarch of the family that kept us together through many of the ups and downs over the years, lost her long battle with frontotemporal dementia (FTD, Pick’s disease) and passed away on January 28, 2009.  Dedication has gotten the Mongiello family and IMC through a lot of challenges.  As Chuck Sr. would often say, “if it was easy, everyone would do it”. 

Today, Chuck and Matt have continued their parents’ legacy of hard work and perseverance.  IMC now provides a unique and full array of cleaning services for its clients that include Air Duct cleaning, Kitchen Hood and Kitchen Equipment cleaning, High Surface Combustible Dust cleaning, Pressure washing, Janitorial maintenance, and other specialty cleaning.    

With families of their own, the challenges and difficulties at IMC have not changed much, but their journey of delivering professional cleaning remains.  Congratulations Interior Maintenance Company, on fifty years of quality service!