Dwyer president aims high, dreams big, and gives back
One of Mark Fisher’s smartest business decisions was to drink decaffeinated coffee. The last thing this high-octane business executive needs is an energy boost.
The 52-year-old father of four is in constant motion. Yet when his athletic body takes a rare break, his mind still races. About being a musician, a gardener, a sprint triathlete, a devoted husband, a man of faith and, not coincidentally, president of Dwyer Instruments.
His fingerprints can be found all over the Michigan City-based company.
Fisher began his career there after graduating from Valparaiso University in 1987. He was 22, energized with big plans and even bigger dreams. Fisher has used his dynamic personality to energize others, rather than to solely focus on a specific discipline such as engineering.
“I’m a people person,” Fisher says without having to say it at all.
His body language speaks before he does. He converses with steady eye-to-eye contact. His handshake is a professional vice grip. His words are measured and forthright. He’s a hands-on, no nonsense, cards-on-the-table kind of guy.
“I have a very strong need for new challenges,” Fisher says.
A VU professor couldn’t help but notice these God-given traits, suggesting an engineering career in the business world.
“I didn’t even know what an MBA was at the time,” Fisher admits.
He not only learned about it, he earned one from Cleveland State University in 1995. He has since become the poster boy for what an MBA can do for a goal-oriented executive with big plans and dreams.
“I’ve always dreamed big,” he says without a hint of hyperbole.
Under his leadership at Dwyer, sales have doubled at the multinational company which produces innovative controls and sensors, while also developing instrumentation solutions used for the HVAC and automation markets. The firm employs more than 700 employees.
Fisher has employed everything he’s learned over the past 30 years to not merely climb the corporate ladder, but to help engineer it.
“I hold people accountable,” he says flatly. Yet he also holds himself accountable as a self-described “player coach.”
Fisher is a prayerful man but not a preachy one. “I pray quite frequently for strength,” he says thoughtfully.
His next goal is to become CEO of the company, which is why he’s currently searching for his own predecessor. He’s secure enough to surround himself with people smarter than him, and he’s smart enough to find job security by doing so.
He is a member of the Renaissance Executive Forums Group of Northern Indiana, the Northwest Indiana Society of Innovators, and the Valparaiso University National Council. He was a guest speaker at TedEx 2016 at VU, a university he often mentions during conversations.
The school not only catapulted his career, it introduced him to his wife of 28 years, Janet, who was a nursing student there. She’s the ideal complement to his Type A personality. “She’s been amazing,” Fisher says.
Born and raised in Buffalo, New York, Fisher uses outdoor athletic endeavors to offset his high-stress indoor job.“I run hot so if I don’t exercise, I get fidgety,” he says, sipping his decaf coffee.
At this stage in his career, he’s looking back as much as looking ahead. Professionally, he’s overseeing his firm’s community outreach projects throughout Northwest Indiana. He’s also a mentor at his former VU fraternity.
Personally, he’s acutely aware of all the people’s shoulders he has been standing on throughout his life, from high school teachers to college professors to company colleagues.
“I have a genuine appreciation for how I got to where I am today, so my mission these days is giving back. This is my next challenge.”
Click to read more from the Feb-Mar 2018 issue of Northwest Indiana Business Magzine.
