Global LT adds 19 jobs, more government work

Lisette Poletes remembers her mother, Hortensia Albertini, working at their kitchen table to build a business. That was in the 1980s and little did they know the single mom would create a multi-million-dollar company called Global LT.

"It's something I saw my entire life growing up," Poletes says.

Poletes came on board in 2009 and started running the day-to-day operations. She has now bought the entire company, giving her mother the opportunity to retire and keep the business in the family and growing.

Global LT specializes in language services, cultural training, expatriate destination services, and workforce training courses for international locales. If it has something to do with facilitating international business, the Troy-based business probably offers a solution for it.

The company has gone from generating $9 million in revenues in 2009 to $20 million in revenues today. It employs more than 100 staff and three interns after hiring 19 people in the last year. It currently has six openings. The company also has about 1,500 to 2,000 independent contractors abroad at any given time.

"I give credit to the team," Poletes says. "They are why we doubled the size of the company."

She expects to keep growing the company for the foreseeable future and to expand more into government work. Language training will remain a mainstay in the company's bottom line. Poletes also expect to keep hiring to meet the work demand.

"A lot of times we promote from within," Poletes says. "We hire a lot of interns."

Source: Lisette Poletes, CEO & owner of Global LT
Writer: Jon Zemke

Read more about Metro Detroit's growing entrepreneurial ecosystem at SEMichiganStartup.com.