As Mayor of Kokomo, Matt leads and manages all aspects of municipal government managing over 500 municipal employees across 23 departments and directing an annual budget of $62 million dollars.
Prior to being mayor, Matt started his own information technology consulting firm, Momentum Inc. Before starting Momentum, he worked for 10 years in the management systems group of Procter & Gamble in Cincinnati and in Europe. It was through his extensive travels that he quickly realized the benefits of his Purdue University degree.“When individuals from any place in the world, from Kokomo, to Cincinnati, to Seattle, to communist East Germany, to Portugal, and Russia, heard I graduated from Purdue, they immediately knew that I came from a top-notch university of world-wide acclaim. Being from Purdue opened many doors.”
Matt recognizes that his success is due to the many people that have touched his life and provided him ongoing encouragement.“I’ve been so fortunate to be sitting in the driver’s seat of a car that was directed by God, designed by my family and powered by all of the great individuals I’ve had the opportunity to meet and work with.”
Matt enjoys his job as Mayor of Kokomo and wants to continue serving the community. After his service as mayor concludes, he plans to pursue a role in higher level government where his service to the public and strategy setting can impact a larger group.
This was originally written for the Distinguished Technology Alumni Awards in 2005.