Wendy Stobbe, Hospice of North Central Oklahoma Chief Executive Officer and Ponca City Chamber Chair-Elect welcomed the group attending the Ponca City Chamber of Commerce Lunch and Learn event. The event was held Friday, October 22, 2021 at the Pioneer Technology Center. Stobbe then introduced State Treasurer Randy McDaniel.

Randy McDaniel is the 19th State Treasurer of Oklahoma elected in 2018. McDaniel recognized Tim Allen, the Deputy Treasurer and Po-Hi graduate who coordinated with Rich Cantillon, Ponca City Chamber of Commerce CEO, to schedule the Lunch and Learn for the Ponca City area. He recognized Jason Boesch, Kay Electric CEO also present as a person he worked with in Leadership Oklahoma City and other community activities and events.

McDaniel talked about key issues that are the responsibility of the treasurer. Number one priority is to safeguard and protect the money with a criteria of three areas; safety first, liquidity, and maximizing interest for the taxpayers of Oklahoma.

“Unclaimed property is our biggest division. Over one million of the four million people in Oklahoma have unclaimed property,” said McDaniel. He encourages people to go to the website to check if they have any unclaimed property.

“Another high profile function is the college savings plan. Student debits are rising across the country,” said McDaniel. “This is the second biggest consumer debit behind mortgages. Set up an Oklahoma 529 College Savings Plan (OCSP) to prevent your children or grandchildren from having a student loan debit when they go to college.”

Many areas of the treasurer’s office responsibilities were shared with the group with screens of charts with the progression of the treasurer’s office and the state’s performance. There was a question and answer session toward the end of McDaniel’s presentation. He suggested for people to stay informed and sign up to receive email updates from the state treasurer’s office at the Oklahoma State Treasure website www. treasurer.ok.gov.