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

When 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 employment 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,”

A FAMILY PORTRAIT: EMPIRE JANITORIAL SERVICES’ BYRON, EDUARDO, CATHY, AND ANGELICA TORRES

she remembers. “Things were getting very unsafe, especially for young people … there were a lot of disappearances.” Recognizing the potential a life in Canada held, she and Eduardo soldiered on, and by 1981 they had saved enough money to quit their day jobs and soon opened their cleaning business, Empire Janitorial Services.

Named by her father (Cathy’s mother and brother also accompanied the two to Canada; Eduardo’s mother followed a few years later), the company quickly blossomed thanks to recommendations from satisfied customers. Their team started small, with Cathy, Eduardo, their mothers, Cathy’s brother, and a few friends rolling up their sleeves to work and drive the growth of the business. As an agile

One of the cornerstones of Empire’s business model is that staff are directly employed, which ensures a hands-on approach to onboarding and continuing training.

startup, they were able to tailor their services to customers’ requirements, from janitorial and carpet cleaning to landscaping. Over time, they began signing bigger and more prestigious clients, some of which remain loyal to the company today; longtime client RE/MAX West, for example, now has Empire cleaning eleven of its Greater Toronto Area offices.

FAMILY VALUES

Over the course of the following decades Eduardo and Cathy welcomed a family, first into their North York home, then into the business when son Byron came on board in 1998 at the young age of 20. Now the company’s regional operations manager, Byron was at the time pursuing a post-secondary education in computer engi-

Empire’s client base is now comprised of approximately 70 per cent commercial offices, 20 per cent warehouses and post-construction clean-up projects, and 10 per cent healthcare customers, amounting to 38 locations and more than 1 million square feet of cleaning space.

neering; however, upon realizing the field wasn’t for him, he decided to join his parents in their expanding organization. The couple’s daughter Vanessa eventually took on a role in the business as well, solidifying the family-run optics that endure in Empire Janitorial to this day.

One of the cornerstones of Empire’s business model is that staff are directly employed, which ensures a hands-on approach to onboarding and continuing training. And these efforts aren’t just for show. As Eduardo says on the company’s website, “Our motto is: a happy, healthy workforce is a safe workforce.”

Byron explains that fostering longterm relationships with employees remains one of the company’s main goals, and that means giving each team member the support they require to succeed, which in turn contributes to the success of the business as a whole. The family is proud of the company’s low turnover rate — “Clients don’t like to see new faces,” Cathy notes — and of their approximately 40 employees, a large percentage have counted Empire as their place of work for 15 years or more. This longevity can be attributed to the fact that the groundwork for success is laid long before staff ever set foot in a client’s facility.

“Before we hire anyone, we want to make sure they know what they’re doing,” says Byron, especially in regards to staff who will be working with industrial clients. This process begins with time in the classroom, followed by hands-on training and two to five days of on-site training. “It’s not like working in an office — you’re in a factory with forklifts,” Byron points out. He stresses that ongoing education is equally important, allowing their team to stay up-to-date and keeping staff and clients alike healthy and safe.

LOOKING AHEAD

The more things change, the more they stay the same, and after forty years in business that sentiment rings especially true for Empire Janitorial Services, at least when it comes to the hands-on attitude of the Torres family. Though Eduardo has taken a step back from his many responsibilities as founder and co-owner, he is still a mainstay at Empire’s offices, and Byron predicts he always will be. (As his son explains, “He likes to keep busy.”) Vanessa is also still involved with the company as a supervisor in the Brampton area, but has recently shifted her focus to raising her children and for the most part is a devoted stay-at-home mom. Cathy, on the other hand, is more involved than ever in her position as general manager and co-founder, with no plans to reduce her workload any time in the future.

A relatively recent addition to the Torres business family is Angelica, Byron’s wife, who came to the team in 2015. As special projects coordinator, her fresh perspective and business acumen led Empire to begin signing post-construction projects which, prior to her arrival, the company had yet to pursue. Her instincts proved correct, and this sector quickly became an area of growth.

Empire’s client base is now comprised of approximately 70 per cent commercial offices, 20 per cent warehouses and post-construction clean-up projects, and 10 per cent healthcare customers, amounting to 38 locations and more than 1 million square feet of cleaning space.

Cathy notes Byron will eventually take the reins of the business and lead the team into a new era of profitability. On that front, Byron says one of his short-term goals is to forge ahead with a sector that the company has admittedly overlooked: condominiums. And by being selective about customers — Byron notes they never over-promise and under-deliver and will refuse to take on a job they feel they can’t complete to their standards — the Empire team will continue to reap the fruits of its labour.

“Honesty, integrity — we do things differently,” says Cathy when asked about their ‘keep it simple’ attitude. “[We don’t] want to overburden ourselves with too much.” In the end, it’s all about balance, and for this family, the trusted formula of hard work, respect, and sincerity will continue to drive them forward for many years to come. /