Mark A. Biel, CAE, IOM is Chief Executive Officer for the Chemical Industry Council of Illinois (CICI), a statewide trade association based in Des Plaines. Mark is located in the Springfield office which closely monitors legislative and regulatory activity, with particular emphasis on environmental, energy, tax and tort reform issues. Prior to becoming Chief Executive Officer in 1999, Biel served as Director of Government Affairs for six years.

Before joining CICI, Mark served for four years as Director of Government Affairs for the Illinois Manufacturers' Association (IMA). During that time, the American Society of Association Executives ranked the IMA’s lobbying program as the best in the nation.

Prior to that, Mark served as Associate Director for the Associated Employers of Illinois; as a legislative intern to both former State Senator William Peterson of Long Grove and former House Majority Leader Robert Churchill of Lake Villa and served on the staff of House Republican Lee Daniels. Mark, a native of Antioch in Lake County, Illinois, is a 1985 graduate of Illinois State University with a degree in Mass Communications and minor in Political Science.

In 2005, Biel served as President of the Illinois Society of Association Executives (ISAE). In 2008, Biel received ISAE’s “Distinguished Member” Award for service to the association field. In 2009, Biel was Chairman of the Midwest Region of U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Institute for Organization Management. Biel also has served on the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Board of Trustees for the Institute for Organization Management.