130 | Business World Magazine |
March 2014
led to respect in the marketplace.
“I think that’s where we’ve advanced,” Ro-
meo says, “because we understand our cus-
tomers’ businesses and we understand the
importance of the services we provide to
their day-to-day operations. We also under-
stand that there’s no such thing as tomor-
row; that now is now.”
HLS, which is celebrating 40 years in
business throughout 2014, began operations
in 1974 as a co-operative laundry and linen
service for six hospitals in and around its Ot-
tawa home base. Its customer list has since
expanded to more than 100, which includes
entities throughout eastern and central On-
tario and stretches as far as Toronto – a swath
comprising six hours of travel time from end
to end.
Romeo arrived in 1995 as chief financial
officer and became CEO in 2000 while help-
ing oversee a spurt of corporate progress in
which HLS has earned credentials from the
Healthcare Laundry Accreditation Council
(HLAC) and certification as both ISO 9001
