business

A ‘Small Giant’

Award-winning workplace still going strong.

President Rob Dube and
CEO Joel Pe arlman

JUDY GREENWALD CONTRIBUTING WRITER

J

oel Pearlman, CEO of imageOne,
knows the secret of success in busi-
ness: Provide an atmosphere of trust
and teamwork among employees, and
create customer loyalty by caring about
clients.
These are the keys to his longevity in
the managed print business and, after 26
years, his company, imageOne, continues
to promote these ideas to staff and cus-
tomers alike.
“A few things have led to our success in
managed print,” Pearlman said. “We are
obsessed with delivering an extraordinary
experience to our clients and genuinely
care about them. Customers trust you
when you care, and it creates immense
loyalty.
“From a business standpoint, we go
beyond print and help clients improve
their workflow by using technol-
ogy to eliminate manual processes,” he
explained. “And finally, we focus on docu-
ment security, which is beyond critical.
We educate our customers on the tools
available to avoid a security breach.”

The 48-year-old Eastern Michigan
University graduate, who lives in
Huntington Woods, noted that he and
partner, Rob Dube, company president,
have known the value of a strong work
ethic for quite a few years.
“We’re childhood best friends,” Pearlman
shared, “and we started our first business
in ninth grade, selling Blow Pops out of our
locker! That sparked our passion for pro-
viding an extraordinary experience for our
customers, and that passion is still with us
26 years after starting imageOne.”
Twenty-four of those years have been
in the Oak Park business district, and
Pearlman noted the area’s centrality for
his customers, which include Quicken
Loans, Marathon Oil, Nationwide
Insurance and Miller Canfield, was a fac-
tor in locating his business there.
“About three years ago, we transformed
our office to align the interior with
our values of simplicity, openness, col-
laboration and flexibility. It’s a space our
team and customers are energized by,”
Pearlman said.

That energy is evidenced in the acco-
lades imageOne has received over the
years, including being named as one of
the Detroit Free Press’ Top 100 Workplaces
and, most recently, being recognized as a
Forbes Small Giant in May 2017.
“The Small Giant award recognizes
businesses that value greatness over
growth, contribute to their communities
and do things that other businesses can
learn from. The judging committee was
impressed that we are an open-book
company, meaning we share our finan-
cial numbers with our entire team and
teach financial literacy.
“Everyone on our team understands
how what they do in their specific job
impacts company profits and has the
opportunity to share in the success of the
business,” he added.
Pearlman said this cooperative feeling
has been a factor in being a four-time Free
Press award-winner as well.
“We’re honored to have received that
recognition because it’s based on how our
team rates their experience working at

imageOne. When we hire the right people
and extend them trust, our flexibility is
repaid with loyalty and appreciation. All of
our team members share commitment to
our values and purpose.”
And what sort of values does he bring
to his working life?
“Our culture of genuine care for our
team and clients definitely speaks to
Jewish values, as does being community-
focused. One of our company goals for
this year is to have 100 percent of our
team take their Community Day — a paid
day off to volunteer for something they
are passionate about.
“So far this year our team has spent
over 248 hours volunteering in the
community. We also raised more than
$30,000 for this year’s Friendship Circle
Walk4Friendship.
“It feels amazing to know you play a
part in helping people enjoy their lives
and accomplish their goals. Work is a part
of life and shouldn’t be a drain — it should
energize you. Being recognized for our
culture has been very rewarding.” •

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November 9 • 2017

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