Mr. Mike Marks

Mike Marks co-founded the Indian River Consulting Group in April 1987. He began his consulting practice after working in distribution management for more than 20 years.  Over the years, his narrow focus in B2B channel-driven markets has created an astonishing number of deep executive relationships with virtually every business vertical in construction, process, MRO/OEM, agriculture, and healthcare. 

Mike had the good fortune to spend significant time with Dr. Peter Drucker when he was in graduate school.  Like Dr. Drucker, he has aspired to be a professional observer of the distribution industry’s growth and evolution for over half a century.

Mike has written extensively and is frequently quoted on many industry issues.  He has extensive board experience on both public and private distribution firms.  His contributions to the field include serving multiple terms as a Research Fellow with the National Association of Wholesaler-Distributors, permanent faculty at Purdue University’s University of Innovative Distribution, eight years as Graduate Adjunct Faculty in the Industrial Distribution Program at Texas A & M University and rendering several precedent-setting expert opinions in contract disputes between manufacturers and distributors.

Prior to forming IRCG, Mike held the position of Executive Vice President at Lex Electronics, an $800 million vertically integrated electronics distributor in Stamford, CT.  Mike’s path to management in his early career was through increasing responsibilities in sales and sales management.  He even completed a tour of duty as a manufacturer’s representative.  Additional details can be found on his LinkedIn profile at https://www.linkedin.com/in/mike-marks-46a7081/.

Mike is 75 years old and is in a multiple year buyout with his partners.  He has two grown children and two granddaughters.  He serves currently as an outside director at Zero Zone, Alaska Rubber Products, and Exotic Automation.  He is an advisory board member in the College of Business at the Florida Institute of Technology where he mentors students, teaches prompt engineering, and is chairman of the curriculum committee.  He was also an SCCA Florida Region Endurance Racing Champion in 2021 but he is not in the mix for 2024.