May 21, 2021 By H. Nelson Spencer
It could be said that 80-year-old Mike Marko, known to many as “Sparky,” was born with proverbial grease under his nails. Marko, the president and owner of Mike’s Inc., is this year’s selection for the IMX Achievement Award. Mechanically minded from the outset, he was never destined to be a desk jockey. He had this innate ability to fix things.
Jim Marko with a young Mike Marko. (Photo courtesy of Mike’s Inc.)
“I was always pretty good with my hands, thanks to my dad. He was my mentor,” Marko said. When his father, Jim, was an engineer on the mv. Midwest Cities, a single-screw, 850 hp. towboat owned by Lake Tankers Corporation, he arranged for Mike to work on the boat because they were shorthanded, said his son, adding, “I was only 8 years old and still in grade school in East Alton, Ill., but I helped out when I could during the summers. I got my tankerman’s li