Harold Pumford
Harold served in local government entities in Oklahoma and Tennessee from 1969 until February 2000, when he became the first CEO of the international Association of Governmental Risk Pools (AGRiP). After graduation in 1967 from the now University of Central Oklahoma and a little over two years as a reporter with the Oklahoma Publishing Company, he started his municipal career, first as assistant city manager of Ponca City, his hometown. He later served as city manager of Guymon and Union City, TN; and two stints on the staff of the Oklahoma Municipal League, where he created the Labor Relations Program and organized the first-in-the-U.S. league group insurance program. This was followed by over 20 years as the first CEO of the Oklahoma Municipal Assurance Group.
In 1985 he was presented with the Employee Relations Achievement Award of the Oklahoma Public Personnel Association. In 1992 the Pooling Section of the national Public Risk Management Association awarded him their Meritorious Achievement Award.
He was the first Secretary of the Oklahoma Hall of Fame for City and Towns Officials Foundation.
Harold also served on the Boards of Directors of both the Oklahoma and Tennessee Municipal Leagues. He served as a member of the national Board of Directors and for five additional years as the Long-Range Plan Mentor for the Public Risk Management Association based in Alexandria, VA. He was also elected to serve as one of five directors of the Public Risk Database Project that was created to manage funds derived from a lawsuit by state Attorneys General against the insurance industry.
Mr. Pumford has also served as Chairman of the Technology Innovation Group for the University of Tennessee, Ohio Valley Christian College Board and the Tennessee State Planning Commission. He trained many future municipal leaders in the early 1980’s while an adjunct professor in the Graduate College at the University of Central Oklahoma. He earned a Master of Arts in Public Administration from the University of Oklahoma and did additional graduate work at the University of Tennessee.
Harold has provided guidelines and implementation of various programs to assist municipal officials across Oklahoma in becoming more aware of ways to bring positive changes to their employees and to enhance their communities. In addition, Mr. Pumford has written numerous publications on various issues pertaining to municipal government policies, financial issues, and insurance stability.