Prior to establishing the Blackburn Consulting Group, Mark’s career included a very broad range of operational experience in the property and casualty insurance industry. His professional industry skills include all aspects of managing the disciplines of underwriting, marketing, sales, claims, IT operations, mergers and acquisitions, products, pricing and agency operations which were developed through experience as an agent, sales manager, underwriting manager, reinsurance underwriter, and Chief Operating Officer for two different insurance groups. His ability and success have been highlighted by the senior management positions he held, most notably as Executive Vice President & Chief Operating Officer for both the State Auto Insurance Group and the Grange Mutual Casualty Insurance Group. In addition, Mark worked as a Vice President for General Reinsurance Corp. and other management positions with national and regional insurance carriers such as American Reinsurance Corp., Continental Insurance Group, Buckeye Union Ins., Motorists Mutual Insurance and Blackburn Insurance Agency.  Mark also served as a Director for State Automobile Mutual Insurance Group for more than 10 years. The breadth of his understanding of horizontal operations and the depth of his vertical experience in underwriting and risk management provides his clients someone that has a clear line of vision from top to bottom of operational issues. Mark is known for his passion in training people in relations management and leadership skills. Within the insurance and reinsurance industry, he is known as a consummate professional with a high degree of integrity. In 2006, along with other members of State Auto Insurance Group’s senior management team, they were recognized as Forbes Magazine’s “2006 Best Managed Insurance Company of Year”. He is highly valued as a mentor and coach to executives and leadership teams.