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PrintLunch With - David Page
Chairman, Tulsa Metro Chamber; and President, The Foundation for Tulsa Schools.
Date: May 28 Time: 12:30 p.m. Place: Andale’s, KingsPointe Village
David Page may be one of those people who just can’t say “no.” At the moment, he is doing double duty for Tulsa. Already president of The Foundation for Tulsa Schools, last January he also said “yes” to becoming Tulsa Metro Chamber chairman. Then there’s his real job — market president of J.P. Morgan Chase and Co. Makes me tired just thinking about it.
Although something of a Chamber newbie, having served only two years on its board before becoming chairman, Page took on the position when President-Elect Gary Paxton had to step down.
I’ve always viewed the Chamber as the city’s sales force, out there talking up Tulsa and making things happen in the business arena. Page is certainly no typical sales type. Low key, calm and soft spoken, he strikes me as being the “Steady Eddy” type — someone you can count on, down-to-earth. The kind of guy just as interested in telling you about his wife, Karol, and daughters, Libbie, 19, and Allie, 16, as discussing community concerns.
Karol and Allie have an artistic streak, he tells me, joking, “One of our biggest bills is canvas.” But it’s obvious he doesn’t mind. Nor does it bother him when Karol, who also is a designer, spies a piece of furniture in a catalog and sets her husband, who dabbles in building furniture, to creating something similar for her. This is good, I think, because here’s a man who understands the importance of a balanced life.
A Spokane, Wash., native, Page first came to town from Chicago when a family friend encouraged him to attend The University of Tulsa. He attended, graduated and stayed, even though he had opportunities elsewhere. By now I would say he pretty much qualifies for native Tulsan status. He certainly talks like one.
He feels “very bullish about Tulsa and really Oklahoma in general,” in spite of the national economic dive, not only because Tulsa and the region seem to be surviving better, but also because of the business and entertainment development going on downtown, which he sees as a result of Tulsa’s stable economy. “It’s a good time to be in Oklahoma, particularly a good time to be in Tulsa,” he says.
Like other Chamber leaders, Page believes the group’s “one voice” agenda presented to legislators this past session helped lawmakers “know where we want to go.” The checklist of accomplishments included tort reform, money for low-water dams along the Arkansas River and funding for the financially teetering Oklahoma State University Medical Center.
But he considers the condition of Tulsa’s schools one of the biggest issues facing the community.
“There is great opportunity … and great momentum,” he says, acknowledging, “The problems are so multidimensional, you just have to start somewhere and start chipping away.”
We talk for a few minutes about one at-risk school and its turnaround, as well as his company’s annual Santa work at similar schools. It’s obvious that he has seen the challenges teachers and principals face.
“You don’t have to look far or wide to see that great minds don’t always come from the people with means; that the world-changers are not always the ones who had the traditional family of four and stable environment,” he says. “They come from everywhere, and we need to be sure this community gives every citizen the chance to help take us to a new level.”
I bet Page will be there helping to make it happen.
