Creative thinker with ability to think outside the box

Relationship builder

Student centered

Strong judgement skills required for selecting scholarship recipients and determining eligibility for loaning money

Excellent communicator, both orally and written

Microsoft Office proficiency required; social networking proficiency preferred; database and QuickBooks proficiency a plus

Bachelor's degree required; experience in higher education (even working as a student) preferred

The position is full-time and is intended for an entry-level or early career-oriented individual and a full, competitive compensation package is included.

For more information, contact M. Keith Brown, OPI executive director, at kbrown@opportunityplan.com.

Bub's legacy continues on in the many gifts made to OPI in his memory. More than $28,000 has been contributed by Bub's family and friends to support OPI's programs and to assist students with their educational dreams and goals.

Below is a complete list of gifts in memory of Bub. OPI, and more importantly the students we serve, extend our deepest gratitude to Bub and to these individuals and organizations.

Salem and Ruth Ann Abraham
Bill and Carol Alexander
Amarillo Tri-State Exposition
Joyce Attebury
Clifford* and Linda Kay Baker
Joseph Batson, Jr.
Waldo and Carolyn* Baxter
Cliff Bickerstaff
Sandra Blacksten
Bob Jay’s of Perryton, Inc.
Betty Boston
Patsy Bowes
Mr. and Mrs. Beaumont Boyce
William and Mary Britain
Lewis and Jennie Britt
Brockwell Consulting, Inc.
Glen Brosier
Luther Brown
M. Keith Brown*
CA Flaming, Inc.
Mr. and Mrs. Brent Caviness
Trevor and Sarah Caviness
Miles Bivins Childers
Paul A. Clark
Don Curtis
Stephen Curtis
Mike Dake
Martha Davidson
Pattilou Dawkins
Paula Deaton
John and Cindy Dudley
Caroline Dulle Family
Joseph and Mary Dulle
Keith and Shirley Fields
First United Bank
Joseph B. C. and Blair Fitzsimons
Gary and J’Melle Fletcher
Warren and Celine Freeman
H.R. and Thelma Fulton
Bob and Cindy Gibson
Mr. and Mrs. Mack Gordon
Mr. and Mrs. Bill Griffin
Martha and Ed Griffith
John M. Grifith, Jr.
Callie Hamner
Linda and Carl Hare
Ed Harrell
Carroll Haygood
Mrs. W. A. Henderson, Jr.
James and Margaret Herring
Gene and LaVoyda Hill
Joe and Betty Howell
T. Denny Iker
Dr.* and Mrs. Larry Johnson
Marylee Cowden Kellogg
LX Cattle Company
Laura and Weir Labatt III
The Bob Lanier Family
The Lunch Bunch
MRG Energy Company
Tiffany Martin
Charlie and Karen Mathis
Kade and Chris Matthews
John and Virginia Maynard
Dr. and Mrs. Ken McCarty
Joe McKay Family
Lynn and Bob McPherson
Thomas and Emily Neel
Elaine Notestine
John and Gail Notestine
Steve and Mary Ann Oden
Lawrence and Sharon Oeschger
Opportunity Plan, Inc.
Glen and Pat Parkey
Jim Patton
Harry Phillips
Barrett Pierce
Pratt Enterprises, Inc.
Jo B. Puckett
Vance and Anita Reed
Charles and Charla Rudolph
Lenny and Linda Sadler
Dena Sanders
Bob and Patty Schneider
Maurice and Mary Schooler
David and Rebecca Schweppe
Tabor Scott
James N. Shelton
John M. Shelton III
J. Malcolm Shelton IV
Claire and John Siragusa
Mr. and Mrs. Richard Siragusa
Charles and Polly SoRelle
Sprouse Shrader Smith P.C.
Carl and Evelyn Stewart
Mark, Heather and Ty Stewart
St. Andrews Episcopal School
Texas Cattle Feeders Association
Michael and Lynda* Tinsley
Toot 'n Totum
Betty and Carl Unlaub
Jim and Patsy Walker
Jack and Sandra Waller
Kenneth Wheeler
Tom and Pat Whitacre
Jim and Sue Whitlock
Lester Wiles
Carroll and Cathy Wright
William and Jeanie Wyatt
Barbara Yingling
Young’s Trailer Sales, Inc.

* indicates OPI alumnus.

OPI alumnus Jarrett Atkinson became City Manager for the City of Amarillo in November 2010. Here, Jarrett shares some of his thoughts on the challenges of being city manager for the largest metropolitan area in a four-state region.

OPI: What is it like as a paid staff person to work “for” an elected commission?

JA: You have to remember that these men and women are the elected officials, policy leaders and direct representatives of the public. They seek and ultimately attain these positions through a dedication to public service and a desire to benefit and serve their community. As a paid staff member, my job is to advise, assist, and ultimately deliver on their goals and policies while managing the daily operations of the city. These ‘volunteers’ bring an individual and collective wisdom to their positions and dedicate tremendous amounts of their time and efforts to serving their communities. Staff should respect and support this dedication and ensure that their goals are met and that the community benefits.

OPI: How has your previous professional experience impacted the way you manage the City of Amarillo?

JA: I am blessed to have the benefit of several years of experience with the City of Amarillo and its senior staff prior to seeking the City Manager position. Amarillo has many dedicated staff members who bring both tremendous knowledge and years of experience to their public service career and to the community. Without these individuals, and what I have learned from them, it would be difficult, if not impossible, to effectively lead the organization. I, the residents of Amarillo, and our elected officials receive a tremendous benefit from these individuals, and I am fortunate to have them on the team.

OPI: What has been your greatest challenge as city manager?

JA: Balancing the daily demands of running an organization with over 1,900 full-time employees and providing the needed services in a fiscally constrained environment is a constant challenge. Amarillo is both a growing city and an aging city. Infrastructure needs continue to grow due to both our growth and our age. These needs will continue to increase and it will continue to be an ongoing challenge to meet these needs and to do so in a fiscally conservative manner. Fortunately, Amarillo has a tremendous history of very stable elected bodies, senior staff and city managers. This background makes it possible to continue to deliver our needed services in the manner expected and deserved by the community.

OPI: Why have water usage and downtown expansion/redevelopment been such hot button issues this year?

JA: My experience with Panhandle Regional Planning Commission led to my interest in water policy, so this is a topic which is very important to me but is critical to our region’s survival as well. Many factors have brought the water usage issue to the forefront of everyone’s minds this year, not the least of which is the unprecedented weather. 2011 has shown us the lowest rainfall-to-date of any recorded year (4.08 inches compared to a normal of 17.08 inches), the most days over 100 degrees (50 days when the previous record was 26 days), the hottest July and August on record, and 31 different record high temperatures being tied or broken. Coupled with this, we also saw the worst year in history for wildfires in Potter and Randall Counties. Lake Meredith continues to decline and serves as a visible reminder of how severe the hot and dry weather has been. These environmental conditions have led to record high water demands for Amarillo and many other cities.

The Amarillo City Commission embarked on an unprecedented public information effort (Every Drop Counts) this year to ensure that the public is aware of water usage patterns and the associated effects on the water system. Fortunately, the public responded well to the pleas for water conservation and the system ended the summer months in excellent shape. In addition to the weather, I believe we also are seeing the effects of several years of dedicated efforts to increase public awareness regarding water in general. The Ogallala Aquifer is a tremendous resource that provides well over 90 percent of all water consumed in our region. Unfortunately, the Ogallala in this area is basically finite with very limited or no recharge. As this awareness increases, people are more cognizant of how precious and limited is the resource upon which we rely. Conservation is the key to the future, and I am pleased to see how this is becoming a common and relevant topic.

The Downtown Amarillo redevelopment effort is an opportunity to help Amarillo both revitalize the downtown area and grow the economy of the city as a whole. In the 1960s, the residents of Amarillo undertook an ambitious effort that resulted in the construction of Amarillo City Hall and the Amarillo Civic Center. The Civic Center has been the centerpiece of downtown ever since. Now, we have an opportunity to not only capitalize on this previous effort, but to also take the next step in providing further opportunity for downtown Amarillo. The proposed hotel, parking structure and multi-event venue will stand as the next catalyst for downtown and will result in increased activity, commerce and growth. The effort to undertake these projects is unprecedented in terms of the dollars to be spent, and this is certainly a set of projects of a scale not typically seen in Amarillo. In many ways, these projects will provide the next steps in our growth opportunities and will result in increased opportunities for many generations. Experience in other cities who have undertaken these projects shows that they serve as a catalyst for continued investment in the core of the city with the resulting benefits far outweighing the initial investment.

"I can't tell you the number of times Bub would call me and say 'well I've got another student that needs some help' but then he would say, 'be sure and check their hands and make sure they've got some callouses on 'em,'" Cathryn Wright, OPI president and daughter of Buff Morris, said. "Bub and my dad had the same philosophy. That's why Bub was such a great personal supporter of OPI and how he helped us garner so much support through the years."

Smith joined the OPI Executive Committee in 1975, soon after he and his sister, Claire, created the O. Dale and Clara Currie Smith Loan Division honoring their parents, but his family had been supporting the Daisy Martin Currie Loan Fund for a decade prior to that. 

OPI’s founding President Harvey Allen knew Bub’s family and encouraged Mr. Morris to involve Bub with OPI. 

“I’ll never forget coming to the office early one morning and finding Bub on the porch pacing back and forth,” Cathryn said. “He was ready to establish the fund in honor of his parents and he was ready to do it right then!” 

Bub went on to establish the A.C. “Bub” Smith Loan Division and the Ellen Dorsey Thompson Division, a loan fund in memory of his mother-in-law. The Smith family funds have turned over multiple times, assisting 49 students with student loans. Every borrowing from the funds has paid the money back. In addition to the funds he and his family were responsible for creating, countless other OPI loan and scholarship funds are the direct result of Bub’s relationships.

“Bub was our biggest ambassador in Amarillo,” Wright said. “The first time I met (former U.S. Ambassador) Teel Bivins, he said, ‘oh, I know you. Bub Smith has told me all about you.’ I think Bub’s friends probably got tired of hearing about OPI from him.”

An avid outdoorsman, Bub was inducted into the Panhandle Sports Hall of Fame last February as only the second outdoorsman/conservationist in the Hall of Fame’s history. 

“Bub was very gracious in accepting the honor, but after thanking the Hall of Fame and his family and friends, he spent the rest of his remarks about OPI and what an important program it is,” OPI Executive Director M. Keith Brown recounted. “That’s the kind of man he was, always looking for a chance to talk about OPI. We’ve lost a true friend.” 

Bub passed away Oct. 6 with memorial services on Oct. 10 at St. Andrews Episcopal Church in Amarillo. Bub is survived by his wife Nancy Thompson Smith; his three children, Ellen Smith Bivins and husband Mark, Allen Currie Smith, Jr. and wife Jussen, and Dale Alexander Smith and wife Caroline; and seven grandchildren as well as his sister Sinclair Smith Siragusa and husband John and his sister-in-law Linda Thompson Spangler and husband Richard.