Worcester Business Journal

12 Worcester Business Journal | March 23, 2026 | wbjournal.com FOCUS W O M E N I N L E A D E R S H I P BY MICA KANNER-MASCOLO WBJ Staff Writer I n 2008, Svetlana Aptekman found herself a newly widowed mother to two teenagers, and suddenly, the sole leader of the company she and her husband had built from the ground up. Born and raised in Moscow, Aptek- man was on a work trip to the U.S. in 1991 when she met her future husband, Alexander Aptekman. at same year, they married and began working on a company set to become Hi-Gear Prod- ucts, a Hudson-based manufacturer of car maintenance products. Over the next 14 years, they moved Hi-Gear through a number of opera- tional models, including white-labeling, before purchasing their own Leominster manufacturing facility in 2005. en they hit the ground running, launching 200 proprietary automotive products, including diesel additives, fuel additives, and oil treatments. Today, Hi-Gear produces more than 4,000 unique product formulations sold to 45 customers in more than 30 countries. e company employs 32 permanent and 22 temp workers, 75% of whom are women, throughout its headquarters and 380,000 square feet of manufacturing space at its Leominster and Fitchburg. "You cannot be stagnant," said Aptek- man, the owner of Hi-Gear. As Hi-Gear expands into automotive care products and household cleaners, Aptekman is emphasizing sustainability while increasing women's representation in the industry. Going green When Alexander passed in 2008, Aptekman determined it was time for a change at Hi-Gear. "I decided we need to create some- thing else. We need to do something else," said Aptekman. Her first move? Creating a more eco-friendly business. In 2009, Aptekman secured a federal grant to install solar panels on one of her Fitchburg warehouse buildings. Two years later, she added panels to another two, and today, all of Hi-Gear's manufacturing sites in Fitchburg and Leominster run completely on solar power. e panels create so much power that Aptekman sells overage to Fitch- burg's Wastewater Division. Aer removing acetone, ethylene glycol, and methanol from its manu- facturing processes, Hi-Gear received recognition from the Massachusetts Senate and was named a 2020 Manufac- turer of the Year by the state House of PHOTO | MATT WRIGHT Knowledge. Facts. Experience. "I don't want to just be involved on paper, I want to be immersed in everything I'm doing," said Svetlana Aptekman, owner of Hi-Gear Products in Hudson. Svetlana Aptekman and her Hi-Gear Products are reshaping the male-dominated chemical manufacturing industry

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