(Credit: Courtesy Mark Smith, 2023)
Mark Smith, a business development consultant and pharmaceutical executive, was appointed Feb. 10 as the new Johnsburg Town Supervisor following the Feb. 7 resignation of Andrea Hogan.
The Town Board of Johnsburg took two meetings to choose a replacement for Andrea Hogan, a Democrat, who resigned earlier this year as the town supervisor on the Warren County Board of Supervisors. Her resignation was effective Feb. 7.
At the first meeting, the board had endured interruptions, shouts, and insults from people attending, and the board could not reach a consensus. During a special meeting Feb. 10, the vote for Smith, a pharmaceutical executive, was unanimous.
“I’m excited to work for the Johnsburg Town Board and engage with the townspeople,” Smith said shortly after his appointment as supervisor.
After the Feb. 10 meeting ended, Smith was greeted by board members and a number of town residents.
Hogan presented Smith with a desk plaque inscribed with the phrase, “For the good of the town.”
Hogan later described Smith as “smart, focused, and no-nonsense” and said he would serve the town well.
Hogan’s resignation announcement came in a town board meeting and Facebook posting that in part said the members of the county board do not treat each other well. She had been at the center of the censuring of Peter McDevitt, a Democrat county board supervisor from Glens Falls, who released emails that Hogan felt unfairly targeted her. He was censured by the Glens Falls Democratic committee.
Smith, 59, said he was aware of the recent contentious behavior of the public at town meetings, and that his motivation to restore civility was one of his reasons to volunteer to serve as supervisor.
“I don’t have any emotional investment in the issues, so I am kind of like a blank slate,” he said.
After growing up in Canajoharie, Smith studied for several years at Clarkson University, enlisted in the U.S. Army as a combat medic, and returned to Clarkson to complete his degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering as of 1985.
Then, after attending Infantry Officer Candidate School, Smith served as a signal officer/medical specialist for the 101st Airborne Division.
Beginning in 1990, he worked for a Belgian company that designs and manufactures laser-equipped sorting devices for the food manufacturing industry.
In 1998, Smith moved to Japan and took a position as project manager for a pharmaceutical company, Asahi Kasei Pharma. During his tenure in Japan, he learned to read and write in Japanese and became proficient in Aikido martial arts, which he ended up teaching.
In about 2013, Smith moved to the Boston area to be an executive for Asahi Kasei’s U.S. division, first as Director of Business Development, then several vice presidential positions including General Administration, as well as Corporate Secretary of Asahi Kasei Pharma America.
In 2015, he became the CEO of a venture-capital pharmaceutical company striving to develop a drug to treat cancer. More recently, he launched a pharmaceutical firm that is now working on a drug to combat Alzheimer’s disease.
Meanwhile, he has served as a business development consultant for pharmaceutical companies through his enterprise, Global Pharma Solutions, based in Johnsburg.