With fast-growing software firm Perforce, CEO Janet Dryer is running her second company to land on the Star Tribune's Top Workplaces list.
Dryer, 56, was the third employee more than 30 years ago at HelpSystems, which the sales and marketing professional ran for many years as CEO before "retiring" in 2014.
About a year later, Dryer agreed to come out of retirement at the urging of an associate at private equity firm Summit Partners, a former owner of HelpSystems, who wanted her to run then-small, San Francisco-based Perforce.
Dryer agreed, with the condition that the headquarters move to Minneapolis.
In the three years under Dryer, Perforce — which ranks No. 50 on the Star Tribune Top Workplaces list of small businesses — has grown to more than 220 employees and expects to be at 300 by the end of the year.
Dryer on June 20 announced that longtime lieutenant Mark Ties will succeed her as CEO. Dryer will continue as chair of the board.
Ties, 53, has been with Perforce as chief operating officer and chief financial officer since January 2016. In that time, the company nearly doubled its revenue. The success helped attract an offer from Perforce's current majority owner, Clearlake Capital, which acquired Perforce in January.
"There is absolutely no one better equipped to continue leading Perforce on its upward trajectory," said Dryer. "I have worked closely with Mark over the last decade, teaming up on over 20 acquisitions. In these past few years at Perforce, we've been daily collaborators, and I truly look forward to seeing him succeed in this new capacity."