Entrepreneurial Award

MARK F. SANTACROSE, BUS AD '81
Glenview, Ill.

Mark is president and CEO of Tecta America Corp., which he helped grow into the nation's leading commercial roofing contractor with locations around the country.

He has more than 25 years of operational, managerial and M&A transactional experience. Under Mark's leadership, Tecta grew from 17 locations and a revenue basis of $160 million to more than 45 locations with revenues of $550 million. He led the sale of the business in late 2006 to KRG Capital while remaining Tecta’s CEO through 2011. Ernst & Young named him Entrepreneur of the Year in 2010.

“Achieving ‘success’ sounds like crossing a finish line," says Mark. “I would rather continue to look for opportunities to make something — whether it’s something in business or personal — better. It’s important to recognize great results along the way, but it’s also important to keep raising the bar.”

Previously, Mark was a managing director at the Chaifetz Group, a private investment firm that works with entrepreneurs and management teams looking to build their businesses into industry-leading companies. He also was CEO and president of Entrade, an e-commerce business incubator, and president and CEO of the Bagcraft Corp., a leading manufacturer of flexible packaging products. He also practiced law for seven years with a concentration on mergers, acquisitions and finance.

Mark is on the board of directors of Tecta and is an advisory board member of Misericordia in Chicago, and he is past director of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation. He also works with the needy family group at his parish, Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Glenview, Ill.

Hometown: Glenview, Ill.
Favorite quote: “It’s not who you know that makes a difference. It’s who knows you.”
Dream dinner guest: “My dad. He passed away when I was 4 years old.”
Faculty person who had an impact: “Rev. John P. Raynor, S.J. I used to work as a bartender for many Marquette events when I was a student, and he always took time to ask how I was doing and remembered my name. It impressed me — but it could be because I always had his Gibson ready for him when he came in!”
Favorite Marquette memory: “Camping out to get basketball tickets.”
Career he aspired to in grade school: Lawyer. “I liked a TV show called Petrocelli that featured an Italian lawyer.”