ST. LOUIS 鈥 A cleaning company is walking away from a three-year, $30 million janitorial contract with 狐狸视频 Lambert International Airport, citing late payments and difficulty working with the city-run airport.
South 狐狸视频 County-based Regency Enterprise Services told state officials it may have to lay off close to 140 people when its contract ends.
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think the relationship can move forward,鈥 said Charles Brown, Regency鈥檚 owner. 鈥淚t was told to me by the administration that maybe this is just too much for me.鈥
Regency has held the Lambert custodial contract since 2016, when the last contractor also abandoned it. Regency won a new three-year contract last year.
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Lambert鈥檚 cleaning contract has generated controversy over the years. Rejected bidders have complained about Lambert鈥檚 procurement process, and the influential Service Employees International Union that represents the Lambert janitors had lobbied against prior bidders.
Recently, Regency鈥檚 contract highlighted issues with new accounting systems at Lambert and in 狐狸视频 Comptroller Darlene Green鈥檚 office that have caused payment delays to city vendors. Brown, Regency鈥檚 owner, last year said he had threatened to cancel the contract after it took the airport as long as two months to pay some invoices. The firm had to borrow money and nearly missed payroll because of the delays, Brown said.
On Monday, Brown said the airport began to pay his invoices more promptly late last year, but it still took more than a month to pay his March bill. He also said Lambert made deductions to Regency鈥檚 payment without offering the company a chance to correct problems.
Lambert鈥檚 director, Rhonda Hamm-Niebruegge, said airport officials had withheld payment on the March invoice because Regency didn鈥檛 have the staff to clean some buildings. It has made other deductions, but they were 鈥減retty small鈥 relative to the size of the contract, she said.
Hamm-Niebruegge said she had great respect for Brown but believed that he, like many employers, has struggled to hire enough workers post-pandemic. She noted that most firms with airport cleaning contracts are large national companies; Regency is a smaller, local company.
鈥淚 think he鈥檚 tried to make this work. I think it鈥檚 just been a challenge for him,鈥 she said. 鈥淚 do think it鈥檚 harder sometimes for small companies to realize the magnitude of what鈥檚 required out here.鈥
Brown disputes the fault was his, noting that the last contractor, California-based Pride Industries One Inc., also walked away.
鈥淵ou鈥檝e got to remember, I took over this contract in the same format after somebody leaves for the exact same reason,鈥 Brown said.
There are 鈥渟o many things that we鈥檙e not in control of,鈥 Brown said. He had security access issues that hindered employees from getting to certain areas of the airport, he said. Regency鈥檚 contract didn鈥檛 include some supplies, he added. For instance, Lambert handled paper supplies, so Regency was dependent on Lambert to restock bathrooms with enough toilet paper, Brown said.
鈥淲e order supplies from Lambert, and Lambert gives us what they want us to have. It doesn鈥檛 match what we ask for,鈥 Brown said. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e not the easiest to work with, and the way the contract is written, it鈥檚 not normal, not typical I guess, from what I鈥檝e seen anyway.鈥
Hamm-Niebruegge said the paper supply has always been from a separate city contract.
Regency will continue cleaning Lambert through August after giving 120-day notice earlier this month to airport and 狐狸视频 officials.
According to a layoff notice to the Missouri Department of Higher Education and Workforce Development last week, Regency employs 138 workers for the Lambert contract, plus 45 contractors.
Hamm-Niebruegge said the airport is in talks with several vendors, including facilities management giant ABM Industries, about taking on an emergency cleaning contract that she anticipates will last for about nine months. She anticipates many of the janitors will be hired by the new contractor.
Lambert officials spoke highly of Regency when they opted against the low bidder to pick the local firm for another three-year contract in 2023.
And Regency kept the contract, even after far larger firms made winning bids:
A Chicago firm won it in 2017, then gave it up.
In 2018, the SEIU convinced city officials to block a French firm that was on track to win the contract, and Regency again kept it.
Regency won the contacts in 2020 and 2023 鈥 but weren鈥檛 the low bidders 鈥 and the other companies complained.
But Lambert鈥檚 move last year to a new Microsoft Dynamics payment system caused payment delays for many airport vendors. A new time clock system at Brown鈥檚 company also caused payment verification issues.
Still, the city cut a check quickly for his last invoice, Brown said.
鈥淭hey paid on time this month, which I think almost made me mad because you know they showed that they could do it if they wanted to, they really could make this thing work if they wanted to,鈥 Brown said. 鈥淏ut it鈥檚 obvious they don鈥檛 want to make it work, at least with me anyway.鈥