Mark Denzler

Biography

Mark Denzler is President & Chief Executive Officer of the Illinois Manufacturers’ Association (IMA), a statewide advocacy organization representing nearly 4,000 member companies and facilities. Denzler was named to his current post in January 2019 after serving a dozen years as Vice President & COO.

Founded in 1893, the IMA is the oldest and largest statewide manufacturing association in the United States and the only statewide organization dedicated exclusively to manufacturing. Its mission is to strengthen, advocate, and promote the business climate for all manufacturers in Illinois. The IMA is BOLDY MOVING MAKERS FORWARD. Denzler led the IMA’s numerous milestones achievements including:

• Creation of the Manufacturing Matters economic impact campaign
• Launched Makers Madness – The Coolest Thing Made in Illinois contest
• Permanent and modern Manufacturers Purchase Credit
• New Apprenticeship credit to help manufacturers address the skills gap
• Long-term, twenty-five year extension of the successful Enterprise Zone program
• Significant reform of the Workers’ Compensation Act
• Extension of the Research & Development tax credit
• Rewrite of the Unemployment Insurance Act

Prior to the IMA, Denzler served in various posts including overseeing Illinois government affairs for State Farm Insurance, a Fortune 50 company headquartered in Bloomington. He served as director of government affairs for the IMA and was a legislative analyst in the General Assembly focusing on taxes, education and transportation. Denzler acted as caucus liaison to Governor Edgar’s Ikenberry Commission on School Funding.

Denzler was appointed by Governors Pat Quinn, Bruce Rauner, and JB Pritzker to the Illinois Workers’ Compensation Advisory Board. He is a gubernatorial appointee to the Illinois Department of Security Advisory Board and an inaugural appointee to Secretary of State Jesse White’s Ethics Board.

He is a member of the Board of Directors for the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Central Illinois and served on the Board of Directors for the Midwest affiliate of St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Lincoln Public Library, President of the Lincoln Library Foundation, and is on the National Public Affairs Steering Committee for the National Association of Manufacturers. Denzler serves on the Executive Committee of the Council of State Manufacturing Associations. He was a 2015 selection as an Edgar Fellow at the University of Illinois and a graduate of the inaugural class (2015) of the Crain’s Chicago Business Leadership Academy. In 2018, Denzler was inducted into the Gove Hall of Fame at the University of Illinois-Springfield.

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