Cedarville Magazine, Spring 2020

Mark Scharnberg ’97 works in manufacturing because he loves to build things. The family companies he is President over —Katecho and Surmasis Pharmaceuticals — manufacture a variety of parts that find their homes on medical devices. “Building innovation for life” is the companies’ mantra. And innovation is at the heart of their business philosophy. Mark sees similarities in the way his company operates and how Cedarville pursues its calling. He especially likes the discipleship emphasis of the 1,000 days initiative. To him, it’s an innovative way of putting everything together to educate and mentor Christian students. Mark said two elements are required to build through innovation: talent and discipline. Finding the best talent gives his companies the ability to innovate. Discipline maximizes that talent. Mark’s discipline is applied through simple rules that address his expectations of productivity, quality, and behavior. And the business has grown. The Scharnberg family gift of $10 million toward the construction of the Lorne C. Scharnberg Business Center is a byproduct of that growth. Buildings are important to the Scharnbergs. Their facility in Des Moines, Iowa, is clean from the offices to the assembly lines to the warehouse. That’s important to a contract manufacturer whose success is dependent on securing contracts to produce goods for use by other businesses. “When people walk into this business, I hear time and time again they’ve not seen a contract manufacturer facility this nice,” Mark said. “It sells itself.” When Lorne Scharnberg became a Cedarville University Trustee in 1994, he soon developed a close relationship with the business department and its chair, Sharon Johnson. So it became natural that the Scharnbergs would give from the blessing of their business to help the School of Business Administration grow. “If you do the building right, it’s going to spur more giving,” Mark said. “It’s going to spur more students who want to come to Cedarville and be in business. It’s going to spur more companies that want to hire. Because you want to walk into a place that’s innovative.” that inspired him to give more. The quote he remembers is this: “God doesn’t give to you to increase your standard of living. He gives to you to increase your standard of giving.” Mark said this idea was life changing. He said he was led to give everything above a standard-of-living point. Being no longer compelled to increase his standard of living, the pressure to make more money disappeared. “God’s given us a gift to be able to make money to be able to fund the gifts that He’s given other people,” Mark said. “If the business keeps growing, we’ll give more.” That got Mark thinking about how much Cedarville’s mission meant to his dad and what it would mean to honor his legacy and surprise him. And Mark is impressed by Cedarville’s mission to not only educate students but also to disciple them. “I’m called to give — I’m just not going to blindly give,” he said. “I want to give to those organizations that are very effective, and I feel like that’s Cedarville.” Lorne knew his son was working on a plan to give toward the business building, but Mark never let his dad know the plan. Lorne’s life, it seems, has never really gone according to his plan, but he’s grown to recognize that’s for the best. “When I became a Christian and started studying Scripture and started teaching, it became evident to me that the most important thing in life is not my career,” he said. “Eternity is the most important. So I thought, well, He’s got a better plan.” Jeff Gilbert ’87 is an Assistant Professor of Journalism at Cedarville University. He received his M.A. in journalism from Regent University. INNOVATION FOR LIFE Cedarville Magazine | 13