Mark Dirks

Beacon Blog Author
Mark Dirks, CEO/Senior Vice President & Co-Founder
CEO/Senior Vice President & Co-Founder

Before becoming Beacon's CEO, Mark climbed through the technical ranks, starting as an application developer for RJ Reynolds. He then spent 15 years at AT&T, where he led the creation of one of the world's first corporate intranets. Co-founding Beacon in 1998, he has driven consistent growth, long-term partnerships and a unique culture for 20 years. Mark was instrumental in forming relationships with Google, Accenture, KPMG Consulting, Lockheed Martin and the U.S. Department of Education (when Beacon developed FAFSA on the Web). These relationships during the company's early years, coupled with Mark's leadership and business development skills, foreshadowed the growth of Beacon's Higher Education portfolio over the last 10 years.

Mark holds a B.S. in Mathematics from Wake Forest University and an M.S. in Computer Systems from Kansas State University. He serves on the Board of Directors for the North Carolina Technology Association, was named Small Business Person of the Year by the Greensboro Chamber of Commerce and received the Entrepreneurial Success Award by the Winston-Salem Chamber of Commerce.

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Let It Snow (Beacon Style)

By Mark Dirks | December 22, 2017

Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays from Beacon. “Let Us Know” how you like this year’s holiday “jingle”. Enjoy! "Oh, when your search results are frightful, Our SEO's are so delightful. When you need someplace to go, Let Us Know! Let Us Know! Read our Christmas card today & get in the spirit.

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Our new website has arrived!

By Mark Dirks | July 20, 2017

As a web development & marketing firm, it's always a challenge to redesign your own website when priorities rest with your existing clients & the new clients knocking on the door. However, our team steeped up & made time to clearly take the Beacon site to the next level. Learn more about the process.

Beacon News

Michigan State University Selects Beacon for Web Development Services

By Mark Dirks | December 20, 2016

We are thrilled to announce that Michigan State University has selected Beacon for a 3-year web services contract (w/ 2-year extension option) that includes the University’s web development (Cascade CMS Support), web hosting and analytics. Beacon will support over 30 different organizations within the Michigan State University system. Due to the recent significant increase in web demand from these organizations, MSU is partnering with Beacon to support expected continued demand over the next 3-5 years in order to increase the continuity, quality, accessibility and security of MSU websites.

Let's get to work!

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