Mark Homer
A Sonic Ride to Success
Lessons learned at home and in graduate classes at Angelo State University helped propel Mark Homer to business and political success.
The owner of 18 Sonic Drive-Ins in two states as well as a Texas State Representative for the past decade, Homer is both an accomplished entrepreneur and a respected public servant, earning him recognition as a 2007 ASU Distinguished Alumnus.
Homer saw the benefits of hard work early in life when his father – whose dedication as manager of a Shawnee, Okla., paint store was noticed by an acquaintance – was offered the chance to manage what would be Texas’ first Sonic Drive In. That Sonic, the 19th store in a chain that today encompasses more than 3,300 outlets, opened in Paris in 1964.
“I can proudly say that one of the biggest reasons that Sonic is successful today is because of people like my father,” Homer said. “They are Depression era kids and they know how to work and promote their product. They could also do it on a shoe-string budget….Thankfully, I am old enough to have been able to see this work ethic in action and I think I have put many of those principles into action in my career.”
After graduating from Paris High School, Homer attended Texas A&M University where he earned a bachelor’s degree in animal science. A job took him to San Angelo where ASU’s accommodations to working students made it possible for him to get a graduate degree in 1989.
"My M.B.A from ASU opened my eyes to finance and marketing, for example, things that someone must have knowledge of to have a successful business,” Homer said.
His graduate school success he attributed largely to professors who “were accessible, very willing to work with their students to make sure that everyone was grasping the subject matter.”With lessons learned from his father’s work ethic and from ASU business professors, Homer joined the family business, which by 1989 included four Sonics. Today, Homer operates 18 Sonic Drive Ins with over $15 million in annual sales. The Sonics include 14 in Texas and four in Florida. His interests in those communities are not solely business, however.
“My parents have always stressed the importance of getting involved in your community,” he said
and that he did, working for local charities, the chamber of commerce and Crime Stoppers, among others. Such commitment convinced the leaders of Paris that he would make a good state representative. In 1998 he was elected to the first of five terms in the Texas Legislature, representing District 3, which encompasses Lamar, Delta, Hopkins, Franklin, Titus and Red River counties.
Economic development is an area of great interest to me and I have worked hard in that area,” Homer said of his legislative career.
He has passed legislation to ensure that economic development corporations are good stewards of taxpayer money and not a detriment to existing and established businesses. He was also instrumental in passing the Texas Enterprise Fund that helped make Texas the No. 1 state for business expansion or relocation.
For all of his accomplishments that have helped the many, he is perhaps proudest of his actions that have helped the individual, like assisting a constituent to navigate the state bureaucracy or hiring a new Sonic employee.
“I love giving kids their first job and helping instill a work ethic that will stay with them for life,” Homer said.
He and his wife, Jennifer, have three children: Hanna, 8, Harrison, 6, and Hayden, 5.