Jason McPherson, city administrator of Marlow Electric in Marlow, Oklahoma, received the Larry Hobart Seven Hats Award during the American Public Power Association’s Public Power Connect: Virtual Summit & Business Meeting on June 9.
The award recognizes managers of small utilities serving fewer than 2,500 meters. These managers have a very small staff and must assume multiple roles. The seven hats they must wear are: planning and design, administration, public relations, field supervision, accounting, human resources, and community leadership.
McPherson has been employed with the City of Marlow for seven years. He has represented Marlow on the Oklahoma Municipal Power Authority’s Board of Directors since 2016 and manages 42 full-time employees, as well as four part-time employees. McPherson was instrumental in securing funding for the redesign of Marlow’s substation and he was a driving factor in the city installing a second backup transformer to their new substation. He was also responsible for the completion of the City of Marlow’s new automatic metering infrastructure. He designed Marlow’s CINCH (Caring in Neighborhoods with Cooling and Heating) program and worked with the Good Samaritan’s group, which is the only United Way group in Marlow, to develop the rules and program. Marlow’s CINCH program allows utility rate payers to round up their bill or to donate to a private fund to help those in need pay their City of Marlow utility bills.
McPherson has also served as a Marlow School Board member and is past president of the Marlow Chamber of Commerce and the Lions Club. When he is done working his full-time job as city manager, he volunteers his time to broadcast all the high school football and basketball games on the local radio station.
