March 2014
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zine | 3
Letter from the Editor
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Strong leaders make for strong companies.
And the March issue of Business World magazine contains a series of profiles of businesses whose success stories have been concocted in the executive wing,
and whose leadership has made sure that the mindsets contributing to that success make their way from the C-suite to the rank and file.
Among the companies with triumphant stories to tell is Canada-based HLS Linen Services, whose CEO, Rocco Romeo, is at the forefront of a push to
ensure that the ins and outs of every client’s business becomes as familiar to his employees as the workings of their own employer.
“We understand our customers’ businesses and we understand the importance of the services we provide to their day-to-day operations,” he says. “We also
understand that there’s no such thing as tomorrow; that now is now. When it comes to our major customers, linen to them is like water and electricity, it’s
the lifeline of their organization. A hospital without linens, sheets, bath towels and pillowcases simply can’t operate. (Operating room) procedures could
be canceled if we don’t deliver.”
HLS was founded in 1974 and enters its 40th anniversary year with a customer base of more than 100, a workload of more than 50 million pounds of
laundry per year and future designs on a border-crossing from Canada into the lucrative and competitive United States market.
“There is opportunity,” Romeo says. “We have a unique geographic location. There’s definitely an opportunity, but obviously the concern is one of time.
There’s only so much time to be focused on certain markets, but it’s definitely one that raises possibilities. It’s something that we haven’t ruled out and it’s
an area that we may go into in the future.”
Elsewhere, the Coconut Bay resort in Saint Lucia seized on novelty as a means for success.
The 250-room facility is spread over 85 acres and separates its clientele into two distinct worlds – one for adults only on one side of the property, and one
for children and families on the other side, which includes the island nation’s largest water park and kids club.
The resort was purchased nine years ago by its current owner – who has a primary business in the baking industry – after it was part of the Club Med
franchise for 30 years.
“There are many all-inclusive properties out there, but there’s nobody doing them both,” says Mark Hawken, the property’s CEO. “In all the hotels I’ve
worked at in my career, this one is incredibly unique in its marketing efforts and we’re actually quite successful. It was a concerted effort to differentiate
the hotel from others.”
Take a look at those items and others included in the March issue, as well as supplemental content in the form of interesting business-related Top 10 lists
and month three of our newest interactive feature – “One Last Question” – located on the issue’s final page.
As always, please feel free to contact me with any comments or critiques, as well as suggestions for ways we can continue to provide a publication that’s
pertinent, educational and entertaining.
Until next month…
Regards,
Lyle Fitzsimmons
Managing Editor, North America
Business World magazine
