Mark entered the insurance business in 1958 at his father’s agency, which specialized in contract bonds. He founded the Mark V. Williamson Company in 1974, with $300 and a determination to build the very best property and casualty insurance agency in the region.
Mark became a Certified Insurance Counselor (CIC) in 1979, when the designation was first made available in Arkansas. He has served on the Board of Directors of the Independent Insurance Agents of Arkansas (IIAA) for over twenty years, and was elected President of the organization in 1995 and served as the organization’s State National Director from 1996 to 2000. Mark was the recipient of the Allan Kennedy Memorial Award — the IIAA’s highest honor — in 2000. He is past Chairman of the CNA Insurance Company’s Producers Agent Council for the Southern Region.
Mark is an active member of the CARTI Foundation Board of Director and a past member of the Iberiabank Advisory Board in Arkansas, a position he held for over 35 years. Mark helped start the Arkansas Prostate Cancer Foundation in 2000.