Mark Makes it Work.
Mark Sigrist wants to bring the problem-solving lessons he learned as an executive with Honda North America to the Ohio House of Representatives.
At Honda, Sigrist was known as a pragmatic manager with a can-do attitude who could get the job done. During most of his 33-year career with the international auto maker, he met regularly with the president of Honda North America in its Marysville, Ohio, headquarters.
As a youngster, Sigrist learned the value of hard work. While attending Grove City High School, Sigrist helped his father, Gary, in the family business - Hall of Frame, a photography studio on Broadway in downtown Grove City. He also was a busboy at Beulah Park and Scioto Downs.
Sigrist worked his way through college at Ohio University as a dormitory resident assistant. He also sold ham and cheese sandwiches and soda pop to fellow students in his dorms. “I’d buy the fixings and put the sandwiches together,” Sigrist remembers. “I sold a lot of them. Somebody in the dorm was always hungry.”
Sigrist earned an accounting degree from OU in 1983, got his CPA license, joined a national public accounting firm and married the love of his life, Melissa.
In 1985, Sigrist was hired as an accountant by Honda North America. Sigrist’s hard work and nose-to-the-grind stone attitude quickly impressed his bosses. Within five years, Honda sent him and Melissa to the company’s world headquarters in Japan. Sigrist’s main job was setting up living arrangements - housing, schooling and medical services - for 150 American engineers and managers enrolled in Honda training programs and their families.
After a three-year stint in Japan, Mark, Melissa and their three children returned to America. Sigrist settled into Honda’s North American headquarters in Marysville, Ohio, and became a member of the Honda president’s strategic planning team.
As a member of the executive staff, Sigrist helped plan and analyze up to $500 million in annual personnel, factory construction, machinery and supply needs. Sigrist met weekly with the president of the company's North American operations.
After working for Honda for 33 years, Sigrist retired in 2018.
