Lyell Clarke is the President and Chief Operating Officer of Clarke (25 years).
As the third generation Clarke, Lyell's involvement with the Company started long before his official start date in the summer of 1984 as a seasonal employee. Lyell worked at Clarke on a seasonal basis through his high school and college years.
After graduating from Iowa State with his PhD in Entomology, Lyell went into sales as the Products and Equipment Control Consultant for Michigan and Wisconsin. He spent five years in this position before transitioning into Service Sales for Lake and McHenry Counties in Illinois. In 1996, after his father's health began to decline, Lyell was appointed as President of Clarke Mosquito Control.
Today, Lyell operates the business using four protocols adopted by other successful CEOs of major corporations. First, define your customers, second, assess what business you are in and what business you are not in, third, balance the yields of the day with the necessary investments of the future, and last, shape the values and the standards of the organization. This type of strategic thinking has resulted in Clarke's rapid growth from a single service center in Illinois in 1996, to the global products and service provider it is today.
The Company earned the 2006 Loyola Family Business of the Year award. To Lyell, the award recognized the accomplishments of his father, John Clarke, II and symbolized what is possible when you have a strong family unit and a solid extended family of employees.
In October 2008 Clarke held an All Employee meeting. This meeting signaled the beginning of significant change and set the direction for the next generation of Clarke.
Lyell and his wife, Kathy, have been married for 28 years and have four children, Katy, Johnny, Robert, and Joe. Lyell's hobbies include downhill skiing, upland bird hunting and visiting the family farm. Days at the farm include playing with their dogs, Labrador Retrievers - Tank, Wilson, and Sandy. The farm is 90 minutes away from Lyell's home in the suburbs of Chicago. The family practices conservation on the property and have spent countless hours restoring native prairie grasses and establishing wetlands.
A day at the farm is not complete without with one last stop to say goodnight to the Grandpa Tree,” a Bradford Pear the family planted at the entrance of the farm in memory of Lyell's father. After time spent at the farm, Lyell is refreshed and ready to cultivate the innovation, unity, community, and sustainability of the new Clarke.