Rick A. Smith, President was born July 11, 1955, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, and graduated from U.S. Grant High School in May 1972. He received his Bachelor and Master Degrees in Economics from the University of Oklahoma in 1976 and 1978, respectively. Upon graduation, he served as Economist in the Planning Division of the Oklahoma Water Resources Board for two years, during which he was the principal author of the Oklahoma Comprehensive Water Plan, a long range guide for developing and financing Oklahoma's water resources statewide. In 1980, he was promoted to Division Chief of the OWRB Planning and Development Division, where his major responsibility was administering the Board's Loan and Grant Program. During his tenure at the Board, Rick structured and developed the basic loan program now offered by the OWRB, working closely with the Board's Financial Advisor and Bond Counsel. In August 1984, he joined the investment banking firm of Leo Oppenheim & Co., Inc. in Oklahoma City as a Public Finance Specialist with an emphasis on municipal finance clients. He successfully passed the NASD and State of Oklahoma securities examinations in September 1984 to become a General Securities Registered Representative. In 1986, he was made an officer of the firm, assuming the position of Vice President of the Public Finance Department. While at Oppenheim, Rick concentrated on the public finance efforts of Oklahoma issuers faced with funding increased infrastructure needs. He structured various financing vehicles, including General Obligation Bonds, Revenue Bonds, OWRB Loans, Private Placements and Lease Financing transactions for state, county and local issuers. The list of projects funded includes, but is not limited to: street and road improvements; electric, water and sewer system improvements; governmental buildings; industrial projects and equipment acquisitions.
Rick departed Oppenheim in March 1990 to form Municipal Finance Services, Inc., where he serves as President and majority stockholder. Based on an awareness of the need for Oklahoma communities to implement more planning activities, Rick has expanded the traditional role of Financial Advisor to encompass a wide range of consulting services.
He has served as guest speaker on public finance topics at several seminars and conferences sponsored by the Oklahoma Rural Water Association; Oklahoma Municipal League; Municipal Electric Systems of Oklahoma; Oklahoma Clerks, Treasurers and Finance Directors Association and others.
Amanda G. Smith was born on October 21, 1954, in San Antonio, Texas. She graduated from Edmond High School, Edmond, Oklahoma, in 1972 and attended the University of Oklahoma the following fall on the President's Leadership Class Scholarship She majored in Fashion Merchandising at the University, with an emphasis in marketing, and graduated with a Bachelor's Degree in 1976. Upon graduation, Amanda was employed as an Assistant Manager in the downtown branch of Street's, an Oklahoma owned and operated women's retail clothing chain. She became a resident of Norman while employed by Street's and opened a store for the company in Sooner Fashion Mall. In 1982, Amanda went to work for the Oklahoma Water Resources Board in the Planning and Development Division as Division Secretary. At the Board her responsibilities included coordinating all correspondence and schedules of the Division staff, attending certain conferences as recording secretary, being involved in the beginning phases of the Financial Assistance Program and various other duties specific to the division. While at the Board, Amanda was fully trained on the most up-to-date word processing equipment available and became proficient.
Following her employment at the OWRB, Amanda went to work in 1985 in the home mortgage industry as a Loan Processor for Allstate Mortgage Company in Oklahoma City. From there, she worked on a contract basis for Red Eagle Oil Company in the oil and gas industry. She assisted the Risk Manager of the company in the assessment and implementation of the company's group health plan and pension and profit-sharing plans. While working in this capacity, Amanda passed the Oklahoma State Insurance examination to become a licensed life, health and accident independent insurance agent. In March 1990, she became minority stockholder in Municipal Finance Services and holds the position of Secretary/Treasurer on the Board of Directors. She handles the daily management of the office, produces the more complicated word processing tasks required, and is involved in the financial budgeting and planning of the firm's assets, investments and overall projections.
Jon G. Wolff was born January 22, 1962, in Cushing, Oklahoma. He graduated from Cushing High School in May 1980 and received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Accounting from Central State University (now University of Central Oklahoma) in 1984. Immediately following graduation, he was employed by the Oklahoma Auditor and Inspector's Office in Oklahoma City. As senior auditor, he was involved in the audits of various state agencies, including, but not limited to the Office of State Finance, State Treasurer's Office and Oklahoma Tax Commission. He also participated in the preparation of the Fiscal Year 1986/87 State of Oklahoma Audit Report.
In May 1987, Mr. Wolff successfully passed the Certified Public Accounting exam and is currently a licensed CPA in the State of Oklahoma. In August 1987, Mr. Wolff joined the City of Del City, Oklahoma, as Treasurer/Comptroller. In this capacity, Jon was responsible for devising, installing and supervising the operation of the general accounting system; evaluating and implementing internal controls; preparing all financial analysis and reports; coordinating and reviewing all debt issuance which involved working with legal and financial professionals; instructing and advising staff.
Mr. Wolff joined MFS in January 1999 and successfully completed all necessary securities examinations in May 1999 to become an Investment Adviser Representative. Since that time, he has assumed primary responsibility for several clients of the firm, specializing in financial analysis related to the issuance of general obligation and revenue bonds and preparation of state loan applications with the Oklahoma Water Resources Board. He also specializes in utility rate analysis for municipalities in evaluating revenue sources and funding vehicles available to individual clients for capital improvements.
Ben Oglesby grew up in Birmingham, Alabama and attended the University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa. He graduated with a B.S. in Economics. Mr. Oglesby began his career in finance in 1992 as a loan officer at a consumer finance company. He then worked as a single-family mortgage loan underwriter for a real estate lending company. In 1997, Mr. Oglesby became a Registered Representative with the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD, now called FINRA) and went to work with Fidelity Brokerage Services, Inc. in Merrimack, New Hampshire. He worked in the section that specialized in equity, fixed income, and options trading. In 2000, Mr. Oglesby went to work for Bank One in Oklahoma City, serving first in the private banking department, and later serving in the investment banking department, serving public issuers in Oklahoma and other states. In 2001, Stephens Inc. acquired the unit of Bank One in which Mr. Oglesby worked. In 2009, Mr. Oglesby joined Municipal Finance Services.
Linda G. Scoggins was born in Aberdeen Proving Grounds, Maryland and graduated from Enterprise High School in Enterprise, Alabama. She received an Associate of Science Degree from Enterprise State Junior College and attended Troy State University. Ms. Scoggins graduated from the Cannon Financial Institute Corporate Trust School I, II and III with Honors and earned the designation of Certified Corporate Trust Specialist as awarded by the American Bankers Association in 2001.
Prior to joining MFS, Linda was an Administrator and Trust Officer in the Corporate Trust Department for the Bank of Oklahoma in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, where she was responsible for the administration and marketing of corporate and municipal debt financing bond issues. Ms. Scoggins has over fourteen (14) years of experience in the banking and trust industry, including (4) years of experience in the Legal Department at Bank of Oklahoma. She had five (5) years of experience in the Corporate Trust Department and administered various types of obligations, including tender option/put bonds, variable rate obligations and credit enhances issues.
Ms. Scoggins joined MFS in January 2004 where she serves as Administrative Assistant and Office Manager.
D. Worley Aitken was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in 1979 and grew up in Guthrie, Oklahoma, where he graduated from Guthrie High School in 1997. He attended Oklahoma State University in Stillwater, Oklahoma, and received a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration in December 2001, with a minor in Marketing. He joined Municipal Finance Services, Inc. as a Financial Analyst in July 2003 and is registered with the Oklahoma Securities Commission as an Investment Adviser Representative. His responsibilities include data collection and analysis and information technology assistance for the firm’s clients.
