Modern Line Furniture named Business of the Year for its commitment to excellence  

Fast-growing Modern Line Furniture, a leading designer and manufacturer of American-made commercial furniture, has been honored with a prestigious 2024 NJBIZ Business of the Year award in the For-Profit Business 1-49 employees category. The award highlights the company’s commitment to professional excellence, business growth and its community.   

“Everything is falling into place for us,” comments owner Vlad Spivak, who stresses that this is not a C-suite award. “This honor belongs to our entire company. We are like a family. Our success is because we work closely together to streamline production, build on our skills, and strengthen our relationships with our

customers and each other.” In fact, the employees were so excited about this award that they took it upon themselves to build a display case for it.   

That strong sense of company pride and loyalty permeates Modern Line Furniture’s facilities. It is, after all, a company that is charting a new course for America’s commercial furniture industry. It is one of the few businesses in the industry that is not hindered by foreign supply chain issues. Instead, it produces all of its furniture in the US with American-made materials. Managing Partner Yana Katliarova is among the first women in this industry to have a growing influence on purchase decisions made by major hotel, restaurant, casino and cruise ship corporations, as well as professional medical offices.   

Employees are comfortable suggesting ideas for improvements and embrace the many positive changes that happened throughout 2024. Modern Line Furniture doubled its manufacturing space to 20,000 square feet, which made room for a new production line as well as a third CNC machine to streamline the cutting process.   

Revenues have increased by 30 to 40 percent, fueled by increased production and faster turnaround times. As production became more efficient, the company retained all its employees, relocating some to new assembly line stations where they could add to their skill sets.   

As growth happens and processes evolve, Modern Line Furniture remains proactive about safety. “It is another way to demonstrate that we value our employees. In addition to providing safety training, we hired workplace safety professionals to review our plant’s layout, equipment, materials and documentation,” says Spivak. “We feel confident we can pass any inspection at any time with flying colors.”   

It is this company culture that drives Modern Line Furniture’s success. “Being human in today’s world makes us different. Everyone on our staff feels significant. They know they matter,” says Spivak. “I walk through the plant and say thank you to every employee. We look for opportunities to have fun and make people smile, whether that’s with our Employee of the Month program, celebrating birthdays or by getting dressed up for holiday celebrations.”   

Adds Katliarova: “We also help them with their personal needs unrelated to their jobs. They know they can come to us. We take a very human approach to every aspect of our business.”   

Strong employee job satisfaction is one reason why any staffing vacancies are quickly filled. “Our recruiting process is easy,” comments Katliarova. “Our employees take so much pride in their work that they are excited for us to hire their family and friends whenever we have an opening.”   

The company’s compassion also extends to the surrounding community. In addition to monetary contributions to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and Wounded Warrior Project, Modern Line Furniture supports Habitat for Humanity by delivering furniture to local community stores.   

Modern Line Furniture was a first-time participant in the 2024 NJBIZ Business of the Year awards. Spivak and Katliarova felt honored to be among the top ten finalists and were surprised to hear their company’s name announced. “We believe the judges saw that we are proactive about moving forward, that we act with humanity and compassion, and we are passionate about building strong relationships with our customers, our employees and our community. That, combined with all of the work we’ve done to grow our business, improve our efficiencies and develop the skills of our staff in 2024, is what we believe led us to winning this award.”