Michael Mark
About this Executive:
Name:
Dr. Michael Mark
Company:
ED MAP, Inc.
Interview Topics:
Higher Education, Technology
Region:
Region 7 - Southern Ohio
Over the past decade, enrollment at U.S. institutions of higher learning has grown by more than 25 percent, reaching 18.5 million in 2007. Much of the growth is due to a boom in adult and distance learning – a trend that Dr. Michael Mark recognized nearly two decades ago.
While serving as director of adult learning services at a major state institution, his passion for quality education inspired him to seek a better way for his distance-learning students to obtain their course materials. Finding none, he created his own.
Two companies later, Dr. Mark is credited with creating a niche industry around the fulfillment of content and course materials for distance learning, career and multi-campus colleges.
A native New Yorker, Dr. Mark went to college at Ohio University and found that Appalachia was "just too pretty a place to leave." And, when it came time to start his companies, the serial entrepreneur found the ideal business startup location in Ohio's Enterprise Appalachia.
Founded in 2001 and his second company, ED MAP, Inc. provides textbook and course materials fulfillment for online learning, corporate training and multi-campus colleges. To help schools meet increased expectations and remain competitive, ED MAP provides cost-effective fulfillment and logistics strategies to ensure that students, customers and instructors get the tools they need to pursue a quality education.
From its 100,000-square-foot facility in Nelsonville, a community in southeast Ohio's Appalachian foothills, ED MAP can deliver to major publishers and more than half of the U.S. population within one to three days using affordable ground delivery. And, Ohio's excellent transportation and logistics infrastructure provides access to markets that allows the company to serve clients across the globe with ease.
"Our location in Ohio's Enterprise Appalachian Region has enabled ED MAP to achieve profitability more quickly," said Dr. Mark. "Every day, we push about 3,000 boxes out of our warehouse, so being close to a large percentage of the U.S. population makes our customer service better, cheaper and faster."
The dedicated lifelong educator and learner is equally passionate about providing jobs and economic prosperity for his adoptive community, where he has found an abundance of knowledge and labor to drive his company's success. "We have very talented, bright people who live here, and they are underutilized," he said. "And the payroll and other taxes we pay really make an impact in a small community."
Despite its prime location, ED MAP struggled during its first 18 months as it juggled service to existing customers with the need to develop online ordering software.
"When you're building that stuff, there's no money immediately coming in for it," Dr. Mark said, noting that obtaining capital to grow the business was one of the company's biggest challenges.
Once again, ED MAP's location provided a solution. In Ohio's Enterprise Appalachian Region, venture capital programs offer funding for every stage of a company's evolution. ED MAP's growth took off after Adena Ventures invested in the company. Founded in 2002, Adena provides equity capital and operational assistance to high-growth businesses in Appalachia.
"Adena's investment and expertise allowed us to jump quickly, do a lot of marketing and hire the right people," Dr. Mark said.
In addition to providing capital investment, Adena helped ED MAP put together business and marketing plans and provided consulting in the areas of finance, strategy and operations.
Shortly after ED MAP received Adena's support, two other venture firms and a bank collaborated in a $2 million investment and loan deal for the company. This allowed ED MAP to keep its core business humming while it developed new software to allow publishers, students, professors and salespeople to track sales online.
With the help of Adena Ventures and Enterprise Appalachia's access to capital, markets and knowledge and labor, ED MAP has landed big contracts with the industry's major players – including the University of Phoenix, the nation's largest private university.
"Revenues are about 30 times larger than before they invested," Dr. Mark said. "Our staff has expanded from three to more than 100, and we have the funds to grow our customer base through marketing and traveling to meet potential customers."
While he enjoys the success his business has achieved in Appalachian Ohio, Dr. Mark places even more value on a work-life balance that allows him to take lunch-time rides on the beautiful bike trail that runs past his office.
"I am here because of the Ohio Promise," he said. "My favorite thing about living in Ohio's Enterprise Appalachia Region is that you can achieve professional success within the context of a fulfilling life."