Biography

Personal | Education | Professional | Leadership | Memberships

"I will work hard and work smart to be Sioux City's voice in the Senate."

Personal

A fourth-generation Iowan, Rick Mullin grew up in a modest, middle-class household in Sioux City. His Iowa roots have grown as deep as his appreciation for the basic values that formed his life: honesty, dignity and respect.

Public service also has become a family tradition. When Rick was nine his father, Don Mullin, was elected to the Sioux City Council and later served as mayor of Sioux City. His brother, Tom Mullin, served over 20 years as Woodbury County Attorney, and his sister, Sue Mullin Lilla, served in many leadership roles including president of the Marian Health Center Auxiliary.

Rick attended his neighborhood Catholic grade school, Blessed Sacrament, from kindergarten through eighth grade, and he graduated from Bishop Heelan High School in 1971. After returning from the University of Iowa, he began working full-time in the factory of his family-owned business, Mullin Awning and Siding. Rick worked his way up through several departments and now serves as president. The family business has served homeowners in Sioux City since the Wallen family founded it in 1892 as Sioux City Tent & Awning. Today Mullin Awning and Siding is a leader in the home improvement industry and has earned an A+ rating from the Better Business Bureau.

Rick and his wife Sue are the proud parents of Megan, now living in Cedar Rapids, and John, who recently graduated from Briar Cliff University. Sue Mullin is a professional educator who earned her Masters Degree in Special Education and has taught for years at Crescent Park Elementary School on the city's West Side.

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Leadership

• President of the Better Business Bureau of Siouxland, 1981-1984
  • Board Member of the Year 1989
    
    
• Board Member of Siouxland Ventures Inc.
  
  
• Past-President, Sioux City Convention Center, Auditorium, and Tourism Bureau
  • Chairman of Marketing Committee
    
    
• Committee Member, Main Street Sioux City
  
  
• Co-Chair Event Center Advisory Board, 1990-1991
  • Appointed by City Council to determine future of Municipal Auditorium
    
    
• Conference facilitator at 1994 Iowa White House Conference on Small Business
  • Facilitator of “Technology and Information Revolution” discussions
    
    
• Graduate of Sioux City Police Citizen’s Academy, 1996
  
  
• Member of Woodbury County Judicial Magistrate Appointing Commission, 1996 to present
  
  
• I.R.I.S. Volunteer Reading for the Blind, 2000 to present
  • Reads The Sioux City Journal on the radio to the visually impaired
    
    
• Co-Chair Just Vote No Committee, City Council change of government election, 2003
  
  
• President of Crime Stoppers Board of Directors, 2005-2007
  
  
• Former Vice-President of Taxpayers Research Council
  
  
• Leadership Siouxland graduate, 2009

Founded the TRC “Jail Committee” to determine need for building $50 million County Jail. Hosted informal meetings with judges, prosecutors, jailers and others, successfully found creative solutions to avoid spending $50 million of taxpayer dollars.

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Professional Memberships

Past-President, Upper Midwest Canvas Products Association; Speaker at International Fabric Association conventions in Orlando, Florida, Phoenix, Arizona, and Galveston, Texas. Member of Siouxland Chamber of Commerce and Taxpayers Research Council, Home Builders Association.

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