While the school transportation industry may have thousands of owner-operators delivering students to school and taking them on field trips, the custodial industry conceivably has tens of thousands of potential vendors because of the low barriers that exist to entering the field.

According to the Building Service Contractors Association International, the industry’s trade group, janitorial services of every sort are expected to grow faster than most other service categories. The group also points to the federal government’s “Service Annual Survey” report which states, “[C]leaning industry receipts increased more than 21 percent from 1999 through 2002.” The BSCAI Web site also cites the research and consulting firm Marketdata Enterprises, which predicts that by 2008 the janitorial services industry will be worth more than $128 billion nationwide.[65]

As with the transportation and food industries, the custodial services industry appears capable of meeting any increased demand from school districts for services.