Mark Hooper, CPA and partner at Andrews Hooper & Pavlik PLC, was honored with the Founder’s Advocate Award as part of The Greater Lansing Business Monthly’s 16th annual Entrepreneurial Awards event.

Although Hooper serves as chair of the judging panel, he was caught unaware when the award was announced.

“Obviously,” he told the audience, “this was a meeting I didn’t attend.”

Hooper went on to say, “Thank you. This is both a surprise and an honor.” Shifting the attention from himself, he thanked the audience for their support of the Business Monthly’s awards event and for their willingness to support the community of Lansing. He went on to laud Chris Holman and his magazine’s role in encouraging and recognizing entrepreneurship and being a positive voice for business in mid-Michigan.

Hooper’s award was the last of the evening, and, in looking back at the honors awarded at the event, he said, “We’ve heard some fabulous stories tonight. We can all be proud of Lansing and what we have achieved here.”

The judging panel (minus Hooper) gave this first-ever award to Hooper to honor not only his considerable business success but also his years of service to both the business community and the Greater Lansing community. It was a fitting tribute to a man who has been a part of the magazine’s awards program from day one.

Ironically, Hooper spoke at the beginning of the evening in his role as chair of the judging panel, a position he has held for the entire 16 years the awards have been given, sharing with the capacity crowd the criteria that go into the selection process. He didn’t know he would be honored later in the evening for meeting those same high standards that he described to the audience.

Said Hooper, “We look for businessmen and women who embody four qualities: the willingness to take risks in achieving entrepreneurial success; creativity; the ability to go beyond their own talents to build an organization; and the leadership and vision to imagine and ultimately reach their goals.”

Hooper graduated from the Honors College of Michigan State University in 1976 and began his career in the Lansing office of Ernst & Young that same year. He was promoted to partner in 1987, and in 1993, he joined with two other Ernst & Young partners to form Andrews Hooper & Pavlik. Hooper, Jim Andrews and Kim Pavlik, along with a team of 26, focus on audit, tax and accounting services in both Lansing and their office in Saginaw. Hooper also serves as an outside director for Auto-Owners Insurance Group.

His firm has experienced significant growth since its inception and has merged with successful regional firms with whom they share principles and values. This growth has added investment planning, business and IT consulting, and benefits administration to its portfolio of services. AHP Benefits, AHP Consulting and AHP Financial have offices in Auburn Hills, Bay City, Grand Rapids and, the newest addition in Midland, added last year. All are committed to delivering the highest level of services at the local level. Together, the four organizations under the AHP banner employ 140 people.

Hooper is a member of both the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Michigan Association of Certified Public Accountants.

While his professional résumé is impressive, his history of community involvement is equally so. He has served on the board of directors of Junior Achievement; Lansing 2000, Inc.; Friends of the Governor’s Residence; Greater Lansing Symphony Orchestra; the Greater Lansing Estate Planning Council; the Capital Region Community Foundation (past chair;) Ele’s Place, Inc. (past chair); Impression 5 Science Center; the Haslett-Okemos Rotary Club (past president); the Rotary Club of Lansing (past president); the Rotary Club of Lansing Foundation (past president); and the Lansing Sesquicentennial Foundation. In addition, he has served on advisory boards for Wharton Center (past chair); MSU’s Department of Accounting and Information Services (past chair); and the Eli Broad College of Business Alumni Board at Michigan State University (president).

And to add still more, Hooper is active with the Okemos Community Church, having held a number of leadership positions. He has also been a member of the chancel choir for the past 30 years.

In reflecting back on the evening and the awards conferred on a deserving group of recipients, Hooper said, “We have chosen to honor these businessmen and women as a way not only of recognizing what they have achieved but to point out to others who might be considering a new and perhaps risky venture that others before them have done what they hope to do. Those who have received awards have created a vision and a path that can inspire others.”