Whether it’s serving constituents in his legislative district or serving his business customers, Rep. Brad Boles, District 51, always has one goal in mind: helping people.
“I have the best of both worlds,” he said. “I get to give back and serve the community. I’m committed to my faith, family, serving the state, growing our businesses, and every once in a while, there may be time for a hobby.”
Boles is a Marlow native, graduating from Marlow High School in 2002. While in junior high and high school, he and his brother Mitch followed in their father’s footsteps, working summers at Wilco, the metal fabrication business his grandfather, Pete Boles, started in 1973.
“We grew up around the family business, just like Dad (Kris Boles) did in the late ’70s,” he said. From mowing the grounds to working in the shop, the experience taught the brothers to cultivate a strong work ethic and learn the value of a dollar, he added. “They were great examples and taught me the value of hard work and never giving up. They showed me how to work through challenges and difficulties.”
In high school, Boles received the Academic All-State Award from the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence and was named Marlow High School Athlete of the Year. His academics and athletic ability earned him a baseball scholarship to Eastern Oklahoma State College at Wilburton where he was a starting catcher and Academic All-American. Most importantly at Eastern, he met his wife Michelle who was on a cheerleading scholarship. Boles later transferred to Dallas Baptist University where he was a two-year starting catcher for the NCAA Division 1 Patriots.
He graduated cum laude from DBU with a bachelor’s in business. He then earned master’s degrees in both business management and finance from the university and graduated with honors as one of the top graduate students from the MBA School of Business.
While working toward his MBAs, Boles returned to Marlow, married Michelle, and began working as the third generation in the family business with his father, who was the CEO of Wilco – a company that manufactures equipment for energy, agriculture, marine and aerospace industries. At 24, Boles was named president of the company.
Under his leadership, Wilco’s workforce increased from 100 employees to about 500 at its peak. Aside from God’s blessings, Boles attributes much of the company’s success to the oil and natural gas boom and a great team at Wilco. He speaks freely of his faith and notes that he and his wife pray before making major decisions. The family is a member of Marlow First Baptist Church, where Boles serves as deacon, Sunday school teacher and treasurer. He and Michelle have been married for 16 years and have two children – Kristin, 11, and Matthew, 9.
Mayor of Marlow
Prior to being elected in 2018 to the House of Representatives, Boles served on the Marlow school board and as the mayor of Marlow from 2014 to 2018.
“In any community, the schools are a critical part of the community,” he said. “When one of the school board members decided to not run again, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to help serve our community.”
When the Marlow mayor resigned in 2014, council members approached Boles to run for that position. He and his wife prayed about it and, “God opened this new door, giving me another opportunity to give back to the community,” he said. He served as the city’s mayor for four years before former District 51 Rep. Scott Biggs was appointed to a federal position by then-President Donald Trump.
Former Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin gave a two-week filling deadline to run for the vacated seat. Again, Boles prayed about it, spoke with his family and business colleagues and took a leap of faith. In addition to the supportive and talented team at Wilco, “I really had to trust in Him that He would take care of our business while I was campaigning and ultimately in session if I won the election.”
During his campaign, Boles met several challenges. He was still mayor of Marlow, president of Wilco, involved with Leadership Oklahoma Class XXXI and needed to make time for the holidays with family. The campaign also came at a time when National Oilwell Varco, a Fortune 500 publicly traded company, began discussions about acquiring Wilco.
Other company milestones during Boles’ guidance include receiving the 2010 Oklahoma Governors Award for Excellence in Exporting, being recognized by Inc. Magazine as the fastest-growing privately owned manufacturing businesses in Oklahoma, as well as the 30th fastest-growing in the U.S., he wrote. The company was also named Marlow’s Business of the Year.
When Wilco was acquired by NOV in 2018, Boles continued to oversee company operations for several years but decided to leave to spend more time in his own businesses and in the Legislature.
While serving as chairman of the board for the Oklahoma Manufacturing Alliance, Boles noticed that most manufacturers had the same recruitment and retention challenges he had at Wilco, which led him to co-found Philtek Services – an endeavor to provide skilled manufacturers and fabricators to partnering companies. Currently, the company has about 270 employees across 10 states with offices in Duncan, Lawton and Shawnee.
State House of Representatives
Boles currently serves as Chair on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee. He also serves on several other committees, including the A&B Finance – Revenue and Taxation, Common Education, County and Municipal Government, Joint Committee on Pandemic Relief Funding, Joint Committee on Pandemic Relief Funding – Government Transformation and Collaboration Working Group, Select Committee on Utilities, and State and Federal Redistricting Southwest Oklahoma Subcommittee.
He enjoys introducing legislation that will help not only his district but also the state as a whole. One of the bills he authored this past session, House Bill 3037, created the Municipal Road Drilling Activity Revolving Fund. Signed into law by Gov. Kevin Stitt on May 11, the legislation will create an annual $5 million fund to offset the fiscal impact of roads in communities with 15,000 or less population.
“The smaller communities don’t have the sales tax base needed to fund these repairs. The $5 million will annually come from funds received by the Oklahoma Department of Transportation from the red-dyed diesel sales tax. It will not increase sales tax,” Boles said. Communities will be able to apply for a grant through ODOT. He led an interim study on the topic in 2020.
Boles also authored legislation, HB 1058, which reforms the financial audit process for Oklahoma municipalities with an income of at least $50,000 and a population of less than 2,500. Gov. Stitt signed this into law on May 16 and it took effect on July 1. Boles worked closely with State Auditor and Inspector Cindy Byrd to develop the legislation.
“This policy will help improve taxpayer transparency at the local municipal government level while at the same time be beneficial to these smaller municipalities by updating our state statutes with a more modernized set of audit requirements while also potentially reducing audit fees and costs,” Boles said.
He enjoys being part of the team at the Capitol that is working together for Oklahomans.
“We still have challenges, but we’re going in the right direction. We’re coming together as a team to make our state better,” he said.
Editor’s Note: Curtis Awbrey contributed to this report.