MARK DOBSON

Mark Dobson has a wealth of experience in both the public and private sectors. He is an entrepreneur and a community leader. In January of 2019 Mark and Tina [his wife] launched Eighty-Four, LLC. – a real estate investment and development entity headquartered in Indiana. In the short time Eighty-Four, LLC has been in business, acquisitions have included Dollar Generals and Family Dollar Stores in Indiana, Michigan, and North Dakota. In addition to the investments in Single Tenant Net Lease Retail locations, a sale/leaseback of an Indiana based manufacturer was added to the portfolio. Most recently, Eighty-Four, LLC acquired veterinary clinics in Wisconsin and Alabama.
Prior to the launch of Eighty-Four, LLC, Dobson served as President & CEO of the Economic Development Corporation of Elkhart County. During his tenure, Elkhart County saw unprecedented growth in jobs and investment. His efforts to attract new businesses and support those already in Elkhart County resulted in over $850,000,000 in new investment for the county – including a record year of growth in 2018. Because an adequately trained workforce is one of the keys to success of any economic development strategy, he collaborated with Horizon Education Alliance and local education institutions to ensure education and commerce were working together to produce the best trained workforce in the region. Additionally, he served the Elevate Indiana Advisory Committee – which is developing an Entrepreneurial Ecosystem for Northern Indiana. In 2018 the EDC collaborated with the Purdue Manufacturing Assistance Program to launch a workforce leadership series targeting manufacturing supervisors. This was in response to business roundtables where management identified key challenges faced in the Elkhart County manufacturing environment. In addition to the job creation successes, he oversaw an annual budget of public and private funds. During his time leading the EDC of Elkhart County, annual budgets consistently exceeded budget based on his team’s fund-raising efforts.
Prior to his engagement with the EDC of Elkhart County, Dobson was the President & CEO of the Kosciusko Chamber of Commerce. His vision and efforts ensured the chamber was the public policy leader in the Northern Indiana region. He also oversaw the absorption of Warsaw Community Development into the Chamber. Chamber Membership grew to record levels during his tenure. Industry peers looked to him to lead the Northern Indiana Coalition of Chambers. Those experiences – and the execution of the Kosciusko Chamber Strategic Plan