MARK HOWARD, OWNER"The best part of everywhere I’ve worked is learning what makes the business tick and how it can be improved. I’ve been fortunate to work with many talented people that have accomplished great things in business and entrepreneurship. A lot of my success has been predicated on the generosity of others and I’m excited to be able to pay some of that forward and help people realize the visions they have for their companies.” |
Parlay Group was founded by Mark Howard, a successful entrepreneur and business leader. Mark’s 30 years of personal experience has spanned numerous industries, but his clients and relationships have touched any type of business you could imagine:
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1992Vertical Divider
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Mark began his sales career in 1992 in the competitive copier and office products industry. He worked for American Office Equipment/Danka where he fine-tuned his prospecting, marketing, and closing skills while rising through the leadership ranks to Regional Manager, the youngest person to hold this position in the company’s 30-year history.
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1997Vertical Divider
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Mr. Howard left Danka to start his own company Health Concepts LLC, a distributor of high-end water purification technologies for drinking water and manufacturing applications in a business to business sales and service environment. As President and Managing Member he helped grow the company to 32 employees with 3 locations and over 3,000 customers.
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2010Vertical Divider
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Health Concepts had a number of offers to sell, and in 2010 Mark sold the company to Waterlogic a publicly held company based in the UK. Mark stayed on with Waterlogic as a member of their leadership team supporting growth and acquisition initiatives and also as Vice President of Sales for North America.
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2013Vertical Divider
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For the last 8 years Mark has worked at Sterling Engineering and Staffing, a $45 million dollar engineering services and outsourcing company, serving a wide client base in the US and abroad. Before leaving Sterling in 2020 to start Parlay Group LLC, Mark served as Senior Executive Director of Managing Sales and recruiting efforts for 4 of the companies 8 critical business verticals reporting directly to the President. Mark still retains an active relationship with Sterling Engineering as they are a client of Parlay Group LLC.
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2016Vertical Divider
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Mark was also a partner in Letts Management, a real estate, construction, and property management company servicing Chicagoland since 2006. At Letts Management Mark helped double sales and grow profitability by 7 times the historical run rates. This attracted the attention of several buyers and Mark assisted in the negotiation and eventual sale of Letts Management to a Private Equity firm based in New York.
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2020Vertical Divider
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As many sought his advice over the years, Mark's drive to ensure profitable companies became a passion. His experience in challenging current business models, improving processes and overall company success ultimately drove Mark to open Parlay Group LLC.
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Mark is a lifelong Chicago native growing up in Downers Grove, Il. He studied Political Science at Valparaiso University and took his passion for government to contribute on several political campaigns from Village Trustee, Circuit Court Judge, County Board, and as Campaign Manager for a candidate to the Illinois House of Representatives.
Over the course of his professional career Mark has served on Associations and Civic/Professional Boards including Washington Park Zoological Society (Vice President and President), National Water Dealers Association (Vice President), Diversity Alliance for Science, and Illinois Hotel & Lodging Association (Leed Committee).
Mark currently resides in Clarendon Hills, IL where he enjoys time with his wife and two children. |