Angie’s List executive taking top job at Conexus Indiana

Manufacturing and logistics advocacy group Conexus Indiana has selected a former Angie’s List Inc. executive to be its new president and CEO.

Mark Howell is set to take the job in January, succeeding Steven Dwyer, who will retire at the end of December after leading the group since 2009.

Mark Howell

Howell, who joined Angie’s List as chief operating officer in 2013, is stepping down from that role in the wake of the Indianapolis-based company's Oct. 2 merger with Colorado-based HomeAdvisor. As part of the transition, Howell agreed to stay with the company, now known as ANGI Homeservices Inc., through the end of this year to advise its new leadership.

Howell, 52, brings plenty of logistics industry experience to the Conexus role. Prior to Angie's List, he spent 18 years in upper management at BrightPoint Inc., a former Indianapolis-based public company that provided logistics and distribution services to the mobile technology industry. Howell became president of Ingram Micro Inc.'s North American region after the California-based firm acquired BrightPoint in 2012. He left the company three months after the acquisition to join Angie's List.

Conexus works to strengthen the state’s advanced manufacturing and logistics industries, with a focus on workforce development and high school and college educational programs.

“We have a very, very vibrant manufacturing and logistics ecosystem in Indiana, and Conexus is here to make sure we maintain and expand that leadership position,” Howell told IBJ on Monday. “Really, what we want to do is continue what we’ve done and begin to think very strategically about big trends.”

Some of those trends, Howell said, include globalization and technology, their impact on logistics and advanced manufacturing, and how Hoosier companies can remain competitive and find opportunities amid change.

Knowing that his time at ANGI Homeservices was coming to an end, Howell said he looked to move into public service, not-for-profit work or education for his next job. Conexus seemed like a good fit.

“I really narrowed my search down to three sectors and this Conexus opportunity was one that touched all three of those sectors,” Howell said.

Conexus’s forward-thinking culture was also appealing. “There’s never a moment of complacency,” Howell said of the organization.

Howell has a history with Conexus. He was part of the organization’s original board of directors when the Central Indiana Corporate Partnership launched it in 2007. He was also the chairman of the Conexus Indiana Logistics Council when it launched in 2012. 

The University of Notre Dame grad recently was named chairman of the College Football Playoff Host Committee, which is organizing the College Football Playoff National Championship in Indianapolis in 2022. The event, announced earlier this month, is expected to draw 100,000 visitors to Indianapolis.

“Mark is well respected in the business community, and the board is excited that he will lead Conexus Indiana,” said Conexus board Chairman Chip Edgington said in a written statement. “He has the vision, enthusiasm and expertise to build upon the Conexus Indiana team’s success to date and to amplify the organization’s mission.”