The Hurley Group began 50 years ago as a way for its founder, Richard Hurley, to gain a little extra money to subsidize his meager paycheck as a Toronto Transit worker.

From that one client in 1956, what was then known as Industrial Floor Service, has transformed into the Hurley Corporation that today boasts annual sales of more than $150 million a year and about 5,000 employees.

Its businesses stretch across Eastern Canada and parts of the United States including the Ohio Valley, New York State, New England, Kentucky and Iowa.

But 50 years later, Hurley does not see its clients as just a way to make additional money.

The company, consistently ranked as one of the 50 Best Managed Companies in Canada, prides itself on its relationship with its customers and its ability to serve all their unique and individual needs.

Growth has not prevented the company from sticking to its core values of hard work and appreciation for its customers, however. This was the mantra 50 years ago and remains at the core of the company’s philosophy today.

Proof of this is the fact that the first client Richard Hurley signed up in 1956, a small engineering company in Toronto, remains a client today.

With its roots in building cleaning, Hurley now offers facility services to a diverse portfolio of properties in Canada and the United States. The company supports airports, commercial buildings, educational facilities, retail centers, industrial plants, corporate headquarters and other specialty type properties.

The company’s strength finds its foundation in the partnership which continues to define its strategic goals within a high performance service culture, and an outstanding executive team positions it well from an operational succession perspective.

“I became the third employee,” said Michael Hurley, who joined his brother Richard, the founder in 1958. “In those days we did everything. Everyone pitched in, and the business grew steadily.”

Each passing decade saw new customers, new techniques and new and innovative ways to serve theses customers well.

In the early 1970’s, Industrial Floor Service, the original company name, became “Hurley Brothers Ltd.: Janitorial Specialists” and the family name has been associated with the growing company ever since. By 1980, the company was doing $2-million a year in business and had 250 employees, but the work was largely confined to small office buildings.

The brothers realized that if the business was going to take the next step it would need to expand to larger clients and add top managements. Michael Hurley recommended Horgan, who was a divisional vice-president at Dustbane Enterprises at the time.

Horgan was drawn to the company for a number of reasons. First, there was the opportunity to take a small company and grow it into a great much larger venture. The there was the chance to own equity and make the move from manager to an owner and operator.

“The first two years were a challenge,” said Horgan. “We consistently came second in all the bids. But then potential clients started to pay attention to us, to our great reputation and the first-class work we did.”

The company’s first big break came in 1982, when telecommunications equipment company Northern Telecom selected it to service its massive complex in Brampton, Ont. Making Hurley’s first major client.