Mark plays a vital role as a CADD Technician, collaborating with our engineers to create detailed drawings for various projects, particularly water lines, sewer lines, treatment plants in particular. His journey to becoming a CADD Technician began in 1992 while working for a construction company, stacking wood, loading trucks, and driving a forklift. His boss at the time “saw some potential in me and my organizational skills,” as Mark said. He was then pulled into estimating concrete for water and wastewater plants. After a year in this role, Mark was presented with the challenge of transitioning into CAD work for the company. Undeterred, he rose to the occasion and taught himself AutoCAD, supplementing his knowledge with a three-day crash course. When reflecting on his career, he expressed, “I would have never imagined being where I’m at, doing what I’m doing for the company that I’m with and how everything came together.”
Mark is a devoted family man and proud owner of three dogs. Two of his dogs are licensed therapy dogs with the Alliance of Therapy Dogs (ATD) organization. So how does a dog become licensed? Mark said “The first year is really training them heavily in obedience. Once they hit a year old, they can be certified through a seven-week class that teaches what therapy dogs do, how they should be handled, taking the dogs to different locations, having them walk on different surfaces, and interact with different people. At the end of the program, there’s a test. Once the dogs and their people pass the test, they get their paperwork and their bandanna.”
The story he always tells is, “when we went to a school where they had a bunch of testing going on. This kid, maybe third or fourth grade, was crying when [they] walked in. The boy clearly had a rough morning. For a moment, the child wouldn’t leave his desk. Within 15 minutes of the dog’s arrival, the child’s demeanor had completely changed. He went from overwhelmed and crying to laughing with a smile on his face.” This joy-bringing trio have gone all over the community, to nursing homes to see the elderly, to universities and schools to see students, and to populations with special needs.
