Ozarks Profile

Executive senior manager for customer relations, and chairman, Restructuring and Competition Task Force, at City Utilities of Springfield, 301 E. Central. City Utilities was established in 1945 when the city purchased the Springfield Gas & Electric Company. In 1957, Springfield voters chose to purchase the Springfield City Water Company and make it a part of City Utilities. McClure joined CU in May 1997.

Age: 47 (turns 48 Oct. 31).

No. of years in Springfield/area: Is a Springfield native and lived here through graduation from college. His family's roots in Springfield go back to the time of the city's founding. McClure and his family lived in Jefferson City from 1974 through July 1998, when they moved back to Springfield.

Education: A 1968 graduate of Parkview High School, McClure received his bachelor of arts degree in history, magna cum laude, from SMSU in 1972. He received a master's degree from the University of Missouri-Columbia and completed a regulatory studies program at Michigan State University in 1990.

Early career: After graduate school, McClure joined the staff of the Missouri Senate Appropriations Committee in Jefferson City as a budget analyst. In 1977, he became staff director for the Senate Appropriations Committee. In 1978 he left and became deputy director/administration for the Missouri Department of Economic Development. In January 1990, McClure received an appointment from then-Gov. John Ashcroft to the five-member Missouri Public Service Commission to complete an unexpired term. The PSC is responsible for regulating the state's investor-owned electricity, telecommunications, gas, water and sewer companies. In April, 1991, McClure was reappointed to a full six-year term. During his nearly 7 1/2- year tenure on the PSC, he served as a commissioner, vice chairman and chairman. He joined CU in May 1997 at the conclusion of his term on the PSC. His original position at CU was director of regulatory planning, which gave him the task of coordinating the utility's preparations for a restructured environment. In June 1998, he became executive senior manager for customer relations and marketing with supervisory responsibility for customer services, customer engineering and developer services, field services and marketing and communications. McClure is the chair of the seven-member Restructuring and Competitions Task Force, which is charged with making recommendations to the general manager and the board about specific steps the utility needs to take in anticipation of customer choice. "My present position allows me to utilize my previous supervisory and administrative experience, along with the regulatory policy work which I did while a member of the PSC," McClure said.

Current projects: The Restructuring and Competition Task Force has just completed work on a resource-management agreement between CU and The Energy Authority of Jacksonville, Fla. The task force is now monitoring its implementation. Considerable time is also being spent on reviewing the utility's extension policy.

Management philosophy: "My management philosophy has always been to be surrounded with good people, and give them the necessary tools to do their jobs. My goal is to delegate authority to the lowest level possible while maintaining the overall responsibility for the task at hand. As an employee, I try to never surprise my superiors and, as a supervisor, I ask my employees to avoid surprising me. The best management lessons I've had throughout my career were learned initially through Army ROTC at SMSU."

Spare-time pursuits: Has been a trombone player since fourth grade and played in several bass groups in Jefferson City. Now plays with SMSU's Community Band. McClure and his wife enjoy singing gospel music as a duet. Their family has always been active in church. They also hold season tickets to Silver Dollar City and try to take advantage of the various festivals held there.

Family data: His wife, Joey, teaches French, social studies, English and reading at Study Middle School. Their oldest daughter, Jenny, is 21 and an elementary education major at SMSU. She works part-time at the Orchard Crest Baptist Church Day Care. Allison, their youngest daughter, is 18 and a freshman at SMSU majoring in Cell Molecular Biology.[[In-content Ad]]