Title: President of Sales

Company: Superior Seats Inc.

Location: Elkhart, Ind.

In 2001 Ms. Bontrager was working for a company that made custom seats; she enjoyed her job, but the company went out of business. Ms. Bontrager thought she could make a great product and build a business, so she rounded up her team, and within 19 days, Superior Seats Inc. (the automobile seat manufacturer) was up and running. She did it because she liked what she was doing and believed she had a way to make it work. That was 14 years ago! Now, Ms. Bontrager treats her staff like her family. She is very hardworking and meticulous. She is constantly thinking about how to improve things and to never stops learning and expanding her book of knowledge.

Ms. Bontrager  biggest challenge was dealing with men who did not believe that women could produce the same or an even better product. She says she definitely hit the glass ceiling in the industry, but she proved them wrong. Her product is a step above. Her greatest accomplishment has been making it through tough times with the business. She kept her company going through rough patches, and she said she had to downsize to 12 employees. She is now happy to report that she has returned to a team of 20. Ms. Bontrager would like to change the aspect of obtaining products. Many of her suppliers rely on imported materials that take longer to get, and can get held up in red tape.  In the old days, all of the materials came from local sources. She would like to see that again.