Forty Under 40: Mark Cloud, 39

In just two years with HP Engineering Inc., Mark Cloud has helped transform the company from a local firm with six employees into a regional engineering firm with three offices in two states, vice president Brandon Pinkerton said.

Cloud is modest about his accomplishments, though, saying the company was poised for growth when he came on board.

“It was like a bomb ready to explode, and they just needed someone to light it,” he said. “Building the bomb was the hard part. I just lit the match. The timing was just right.”

With a marketing degree and certification in architectural lighting design, Cloud said at HP he gets to draw on his creativity and 15 years of experience in both fields.

“That’s why I love this job,” he said.

Certified in LEED interior design and construction, he’s chairman of the Western Arkansas chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council.

Outside of work, Cloud stays active with the Springdale School District, where his wife is a teacher and their four children are students. In 2008, he co-founded Springdale Partners in Education, which helps local businesses support Springdale schools. He’s also on the board of the newly formed Springdale Public Schools Education Foundation.

Cloud said he looks at everybody as a mentor.

“You can learn from everyone you meet,” he said.