At 23, Steven Perlman took over a struggling family-owned manufacturing business founded in 1953 by his grandfather and father – The Intec Group, Inc. He had just earned his MBA and initially intended to gain experience working for other companies, but his family asked him to join the family business immediately.
His younger brother joined him in the company a few years later and Perlman said they are closer friends and colleagues today than ever. “Business and money often get in the way and fractures family relationships,” said Perlman. “We refused to let that happen because these family values built the foundation and formed the guiding principles of our business.”
The Intec Group, Inc. supplies engineered precision thermoplastic injection molded components and assemblies to the automotive, packaging and construction industries. The firm achieves strong financial results through a disciplined focus as a preferred supplier to its targeted customers in core automotive, packaging and construction industry product segments.
Under Perlman’s leadership, the company doubled in size every four to five years and evolved from a small Midwest custom manufacturing business to a global supplier. In the 1980s, Perlman added even more growth with a globalization strategy that opened operations over the next 20 years in Singapore, Mexico and China.
In 1996, Perlman founded an industry benchmarking organization where member companies meet quarterly to collaborate on best practices in order to strengthen the U.S. competitive advantage in global markets. This organization continues to thrive to the present day.
“Steve considers leading Intec through the years of the Great Recession as the greatest challenge he faced in his career to that point,” said his colleagues. “While many competitors went out of business, Intec navigated the recession years and emerged stronger with 2010 as the most successful year to date in the company’s history.”
In addition, the company survived the multiple headwinds evolving from the pandemic by leaning into the threats and challenges to emerge stronger and more competitive.
The year 2023 marks Perlman’s 50th year with Intec as the company celebrates its 70th year in business with revenues up 22 percent from 2022 and a forecasted growth of 30 percent by 2025.
“Over the course of his 50 years with Intec, Steve successfully transitioned his company from supplying the shrinking domestic television industry into new markets,” said his staff.
For his commitment to the industry for 50 years, Perlman has been named a Titan 100.
