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Reaching for a star : the extraordinary life of Milan Kroupa

"After a turbulent childhood in Communist Czechoslovakia, Milan Kroupa turned his back on a promising career in soccer and fled the country of his birth. He arrived in Canada as a refugee in 1968 at the age of twenty-five, with a new wife, and a new baby. He had little more in his pocket than good advice from his father, who taught him that there are as many opportunities in the world as there are stars in the sky, and that the secret is to grasp the star that attracts you and never let it go. Following that advice, Kroupa quickly learned English, then threaded his way through the jungle of the business world, side-stepping scammers and gaining valuable experience from a series of enlightened bosses who taught him the ropes and gave him room to advance. By 1977, he was ready to go into business for himself. The company he founded on a shoe-string, United Cleaning Services, quickly expanded into a multi-million dollar, country-wide enterprise that now employs almost 5,000 people, many of whom are immigrants like himself. Throughout all this, Kroupa has remained a modest, down-to-earth man who doesn't see himself as extraordinary at all. Extraordinary or not, his story makes fascinating reading, and will be an inspiration to everyone, and particularly to the countless new arrivals whose most valuable asset, to themselves and to the country, is their hope for the future and their determination to succeed."--

Online EBSCO Academic Comprehensive Collection

Right hand man : how Phil Lind steered the genius of Ted Rogers, Canada's foremost entrepreneur

Online EBSCO Academic Comprehensive Collection

Leaving home : the remarkable life of Peter Jacyk

"Petro (Peter) Jacyk survived two of the most horrendous events of the twentieth century: the Ukrainian famine of the 1930s, instigated by Stalin and responsible for the deaths of untold millions and waves of invasion and slaughter from Soviet Russia and Nazi Germany. Fleeing post-war Europe in 1949, he arrived in Canada with $7 in his pocket and horrific images in his memory.Petro (Peter) Jacyk survived two of the most horrendous events of the 20th century: the Ukrainian famine of the 1930s, instigated by Stalin and responsible for the deaths of untold millions, and waves of invasion and slaughter from Soviet Russia and Nazi Germany. Fleeing postwar Europe in 1949, he arrived in Canada with seven dollars in his pocket and horrific images in his memory. His adopted country would inspire a deep and lifelong love in Jacyk. Here at last, as he put it, he was "free to live and free to succeed." Through the Toronto building and land development firm he founded, he established himself as an economic and cultural powerhouse. Exacting in his dealings with others, yet a generous mentor, he sought excellence in all of his pursuits. In time, the man who had begun as a "poor-penny immigrant" became one of the country's most prominent philanthropists, donating substantial portions of his wealth to projects dedicated to Ukrainian history, language, and culture. Universities such as Harvard, Columbia, and the University of Toronto benefited from his largesse. Leaving Home celebrates the life of a remarkable man determined to make a positive impact on an often-hostile world.