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Mark E. Frels
Mark E. Frels was raised on a multi-generational family grain and livestock farm in Rock Island County, Illinois, in a unique family environment. Mark benefited by learning the com...view moreMark E. Frels was raised on a multi-generational family grain and livestock farm in Rock Island County, Illinois, in a unique family environment. Mark benefited by learning the common sense, ethics, and hard work lessons of the farming operation from his father, Calvin Frels. He also benefited from the experiences and lessons provided by his mother, Dr. Lois Frels, through her extensive career as a pioneer in the areas of nursing, education, administration, and community leadership, as well as her extensive state, national, and international professional service. The author further notes this book would not have been possible without the support, talent, and daily inspiration of his spouse, Ann.
Mark is a graduate of Iowa Wesleyan College, an institution chosen based on family history and academic excellence. He holds a BA degree, graduating with honors, and participated in many student organizations and activities including yearbook, newspaper, and varsity baseball.
Mark completed two summer study terms at a young age at the University of Madrid in Madrid, Spain, through the auspices of Augustana College. Course study included language and culture. He held an internship as a radio announcer during his college years at a small-market FM radio station. KILJ in Mt. Pleasant, Iowa. During the summers, he was also employed by the USDA Soil Conservation Service as a survey technician assistant. This allowed him to learn the craft of agricultural survey pertaining to ponds, terraces, and erosion control structures to benefit agriculture.
Mark began full-time employment with the Illinois Farm Bureau (corporately known as the Illinois Agricultural Association) in 1977 and completed over thirty-five years of service with them. The Illinois Farm Bureau is the state’s largest volunteer membership association of farmers and those supporting agriculture. It is one of the largest state Farm Bureau membership organizations in the country, serving over four hundred thousand members.
Mark began his work for the Illinois Farm Bureau as a county Farm Bureau manager trainee and was hired as the Knox County Farm Bureau Manager at Galesburg, Illinois, a position he held for approximately ten years. He then moved to a Regional Manager position, covering the northern one-third of the state working with county Farm Bureau association boards and managers on behalf of the state organization. Following several years as a Regional Manager, he became the Illinois Farm Bureau Director of Field Services, moving to the association state headquarters in Bloomington, Illinois, to head one of the state corporate office divisions. Later he was named Executive Director of Member Services and Public Relations, which combined the News and Communications Division and the Field Services Division in a new corporate structure. This became known as the Member Services and Public Relations Division. He became a member of the Illinois Farm Bureau management team, reporting directly to the president of the state organization.
Mark retired in 2013 to pursue specific association project interests and to devote more time to family and the family farm. He is a member of the Blue Key Academic Scholastic fraternity. He is a 4-H alumni award winner and a member of 4-H Club Congress. He received both the Honorary Chapter Farmer recognition and an Honorary State FFA degree from the Illinois Association of Future Farmers of America. He is a recipient of the Knox County Farm Bureau Meritorious Service Award to Agriculture and a recipient of the Iowa Wesleyan College Distinguished Alumni Award. He holds a Certified Association Executive (CAE Ret.) designation from the American Society of Association Executives. Throughout his career, he wrote several articles on management techniques, which were published in the ASAE national publication, Associations Now.
It is Mark’s love for the organization he served, including the leaders, staff, and association members he worked with, that inspired this work. It is his passion for organization work and, in particular, communications which was the significant driver in his desire to share these thoughts in the area of association management.
Mark and his wife, Ann, a retired high school English teacher and retired municipal employee for the town of Normal, Illinois, now reside in rural Wyanet, Illinois.view less