/ cover story /
BUILDING
AN EMPIRE
Since its humble beginning nearly four decades ago, the team behind Empire Janitorial Services has triumphed by following their instincts by Rachel Debling
W
hen the term ‘empire’ comes to mind, some may visualize towering castles, centuries of reign, and throngs of passionate followers; others may picture modern-day magnates who rule the boardroom with an iron fist, or multihyphenates dominating at the box office and on charts of all kinds. But no matter which dynasty one considers, they all share one common feature: they had to start somewhere. For Empire Janitorial Services, that start entailed a move of continental proportions — and a lot of elbow grease. A FRESH START
When Eduardo and Cathy Torres immigrated to Canada from Argentina with Cathy’s family nearly fifty years ago — both were barely 18 — they wasted little time in setting goals for their new life in North America. The couple quickly took on as much work as they could, with Cathy finding full-time employ18 / FACILITY CLEANING & MAINTENANCE / SUMMER 2020
ment at Dominion Roller Skate’s Mississauga, Ontario factory while Eduardo earned money as a delivery driver for a lumber company. But their ambitions outweighed these entry-level positions, and to fund their dream of purchasing a home, the duo accepted the additional responsibility of cleaning buildings parttime at night. Over the next three years, Eduardo and Cathy’s hard work paid off. They married, attained their immediate goal of owning property, and were pleased when more opportunities in the cleaning industry materialized, including the Toronto-area Carlton Cards factory which they serviced for nearly two years as a subcontractor. Still, their growth didn’t come without sacrifice. “It was hard working day and night,” Cathy recalls of their early years in Canada. But the challenges presented to them in their new home country were nothing compared to what they had left behind. “[Argentina] was under a military government,”
