Jack Ogami

PAYROLL MANAGER | OREGON DEPARTMENT OF CORRECTIONS

Jack Ogami was born and raised in Weiser, Idaho where he worked at his family’s business, the Idaho Bag Company. “I always assumed I would graduate from high school and work full-time in the family business. I didn’t see the value of attending college,” said Ogami in regards to his indecisiveness to continue his education. However, a family friend who worked for the Idaho State University High School Relations Department put together a trip for him to tour the University. After spending a couple of nights and participating in some activities. Ogami decided that he really liked the campus. His ISU connection helped him fill out the college application and made sure he indicated that he wanted to be considered for scholarships and financial aid.

A couple months later, he received an acceptance letter from ISU and his parents agreed to pay for his tuition. But soon after starting, Ogami was awarded the Presidential Scholarship which covered his room and board. As a college student, excel, earning straight A’s for the first time.“The 3.0 requirement [for the scholarship] scared me because I was a 3.0 student in highschool. This didn’t leave much margin for error,” said Ogami “So my plan was to study like crazy, and it worked.” He eventually graduated with a degree in accounting, passed all of the Certified PublicAccountant (CPA) exams on his first try and received offers from seven of the eight largest CPA firms at the time.

He was hired by Ernst & Young in Boise and after a short time, he moved to Honolulu, Hawaii and was hired on Ogami began toby AFMAC, where he traveled as an internal auditor. Soon after, Ogami met and married his wife, Melody. After several years of working in the world of high finance, he made the move to Salem, Oregon - shifting his focus to his children. “My greatest accomplishment was coaching the high school freshmen summer baseball team,” said Ogami. Eventually, he joined the State of Oregon as a manager and after eight years, is now working as the payroll manager for Oregon’s Department of Corrections. “Attending ISU led to professional opportunities [which then resulted in] more time to be a hover parent, coach family sports and make more frequent visits back home.”