A Mississauga company that started as a way for its owner to make money to help pay his way through university is now celebrating its 20th year of operation.
Service Plus Aquatics Inc. (SPA) is a commercial swimming pool builder, restorer, servicer, lifeguard manager and more.
The company currently has 26 full-time employees and about another 30 seasonal staff. But when Roland Guy started his company in 1989 it was to make money to help pay for university. He was a lifeguard himself and would arrange lifeguarding jobs through his company for others.
When he graduated from university in 1995 his business turned to more than just managing lifeguards — it moved into service and construction of pools. Guy’s first employee is still with the company today and the first company to contract him still deals with Guy.
The key to the company’s success is its employees, he says with pride.
“Our concept with our staff is to proportionately pay higher than the industry standard,” he said. “We’re one of the few aquatic companies that forces people to take tests before we let them into the field.”
Guy added his company is very detail-oriented with each contract custom-developed for the needs of the client.
SPA, he says, is now one of the three largest pool builders and suppliers in the GTA. The company has contracts with several major Mississauga condominium property management companies and with others across south-west Ontario.