Meet Mark
Mark Sigrist wants to bring the problem solving-skills he learned as a leader on Grove City Council, and as an executive at Honda to the Ohio House of Representatives.
Mark’s Values
I believe in the fair representation of all people. I am a Grove City native and currently sit on Grove City Council. Most importantly, I care deeply about the people living in our newly reshaped District 10 and aim to represent you and your interests. I believe we can all agree that no one is accurately representing the will of the voters in our district currently. I intend to change that, even in the face of these attempts to disenfranchise our district’s voters with manipulative gerrymandering.
We are a dynamic and diverse community, and together, we have a chance to show those currently in power that we will not have our voices diminished. We have chosen to protect women's rights to decide for themselves what is right for them and their families. We have chosen to protect our voice and ability to lead our initiatives, and we have chosen to decriminalize the recreational use and sale of cannabis. We cannot let these victories be taken from us.
There is a lot of work to be done in the statehouse, and I know I am the person to do it! Our district needs a candidate who sees and understands the needs of our community to bring positive changes to the statehouse. My past public service, unofficially and more recently as an elected city council official, has allowed me to become deeply entrenched in our community and sense its needs. When elected, I will be an informed voice, deeply grounded in community values. A vote for Mark Sigrist in the November 5, 2024, General Election gives us a real shot to bring fair representation back to District 10 in November.
I will support our seniors, public schools, organized labor, access to affordable healthcare, freedom of choice in healthcare, our LGBTQIA+ community, and housing initiatives that allow people to live where they work affordably.
I am excited about the opportunity to return our community’s voices to our statehouse. I want to restore hope and level the playing field for current and future generations.
I appreciate your consideration,
Mark Sigrist
Mark’s Story
Mark Sigrist's three most influential people have been his wife, Melissa, and his late parents, Gary and June. They greatly influenced his values —family, hard work, and giving back to the community and those less fortunate.
After graduating from Grove City High School, he went to college and graduated from Ohio University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting. There, he met his wife, Melissa. They have been married for 40 years and celebrated their anniversary this summer. Mark and Melissa have three adult children, all married and living in Central Ohio.
He had a long career at Honda in Marysville, Ohio. One of the most life-shaping events in raising their family was moving to Japan to work for Honda. In the early 90’s, he was the first associate assigned to a brand-new expatriate program. His role was to set up a program in Japan for Honda U.S. engineers and their families. He and his family, two children, then moved to Japan and lived there for three years. His daughter was born in Tokyo during the 3-year assignment.
Mark moved back to Grove City in 2017, where his siblings and their families resided. He was not going to rest in retirement. He continued to evolve a Thanksgiving Day Community Food Pantry Fundraiser 5K that he founded in 2012, a cherished event that attracts over 2,000 people and raises $30,000 annually for the local food pantry. In 2018, he accepted the mayor’s assignment to the Keep Grove City Beautiful Committee Board and actively volunteered in the Grove City Buddy Ball Baseball Program.
Mark’s Career
At Honda, Sigrist was known as a pragmatic manager with a can-do attitude who could get the job done. During most of his 33-year career with the international automaker, he met regularly with the president of Honda North America in its Marysville, Ohio, headquarters. He calls his work experience “Honda University.” It was a rigid 33-year course in a quest for continuous improvement. The curriculum was filled with consensus building, problem-solving, root cause analysis, and team decision-making.
As a young man, Sigrist learned the value of hard work. While attending Grove City High School, Sigrist helped his father, Gary, in the family business - Hall of Frame, a photography studio on Broadway in downtown Grove City. He also was a busboy at Beulah Park and Scioto Downs. He was a Horsemen’s bookkeeper at Scioto Downs.
Sigrist worked through college at Ohio University as a dormitory resident assistant. Demonstrating his entrepreneurial spirit, he sold fellow dorm students ham and cheese sandwiches and soda pop out of his dorm room. “I’d buy the fixings and put the sandwiches together,” Sigrist remembers. “I sold a lot of them. Somebody in the dorm was always hungry.”
In The News
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The Columbus Dispatch: Everyday Hero
“Everyday Heroes: Mark Sigrist downplays his outreach efforts, calls himself a 'connector'
Mark Sigrist has used his energy and organizational skills to start a 5K for charity and worked to include and boost those with special needs.”
Story by: Ken Gordon
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City Scene: Grove City Twins Offer Community Help During Pandemic
“Mark Sigrist, Mary Mulvany jumpstart efforts to assist local residents and food pantry.
Story by: Lydia Freudenberg
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The Columbus Dispatch: Grove City Strangers Rally Around Young Man Who Changed Their Lives
He showed them kindness. Now strangers are rallying around sanitation worker
Story by: Theodore Decker
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The Columbus Dispatch: Pandemic has Brought Greater Need for Grove City Food Pantry
In the time of COVID-19, the community's need for the services provided by the Grove City Food Pantry has grown.
At the same time, the food pantry has faced its own pandemic-related challenges.
Story by: Alan Froman
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Newton Bee: Twenty-Six Benches Provide Rest And Reflection
“Mr. Sigrist was one of the earliest people to contact the town with an offer of providing a memorial, said Parks and Recreation Director Amy Mangold, and one of the most persistent, even as town officials struggled to sort through an unexpected deluge of similar offers. His idea was for 26 benches, each with a plaque personalized by the families of the 26 victims of the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School, December 14, 2012.”
Story by: Nancy K. Crevier