Gov. Stitt taps new director of OMES

GOVERNOR STITT APPOINTS NEW DIRECTOR OF OMES, FULFILLS VISION FOR FULL-TIME COO

Oklahoma City, Okla. (Jan. 22, 2020)  – Governor Kevin Stitt announced today two changes to his leadership team. John Budd, who has been serving in the dual roles of state chief operating officer (COO) and director of the Office of Management and Enterprise Services (OMES), will now be solely focused on his role as state COO. Steven Harpe, who currently serves as deputy director of OMES, will be promoted to director of the agency, an appointed position that requires Senate confirmation.

“John Budd was hired to be the State’s first COO, an agency-oversight role that other states have successfully implemented,” said Gov. Stitt. “When changes took place in OMES, he was generous to step into the agency and led it during a critical time while also juggling the role as Chief Operating Officer. Right out of the gate, John was able to fully eliminate a $23 million emergency supplemental request and bring more stability to the agency’s operations. As COO, John will dedicate his time to working across the cabinet and state agencies, as we originally planned.”

Steven Harpe currently serves as the deputy director of OMES. Prior to this, Harpe served as Chief Information Officer of Gateway Mortgage Group, one of the nation’s largest, independent mortgage companies. Harpe has more than 30 years of experience managing technology solutions globally for companies such as American Airlines, Sabre, HireRight, Capital One, and CGI. He has also worked on initiatives for the United States Navy and Marines requiring high level security clearances by the United States Federal Government.

“Steve Harpe is the right talent and leader to take over as director of OMES,” said COO John Budd. “Steve has world-class information technology expertise, and he’s a tremendous leader of ideas and people. I have heard nothing but positive reviews since he joined state government. I am confident he will make the right decisions to make sure OMES continues to improve the services it provides to other state agencies.”

Harpe serves on the 501 Technet Advisory Board, an organization that provides eligible nonprofit organizations in Oklahoma with high quality, donor subsidized or partner discounted technology expertise, products and services. Additionally, he serves in several technology leadership groups, such as the Oklahoma CIO's and the Tulsa CIO Forum organizations. These groups bring senior level technologists in Oklahoma together to collaborate on technology transformation and cyber security initiatives.

Harpe has been married to his wife, Jody, for 24 years and has three children. They have lived in the Broken Arrow area for 40 years.