Hi – I’m Vicki Clift, the Director of Finance for South Central Transit. I have worked for SCT for 26 years and have seen many amazing changes over the years. When I was hired in 1991, SCT had five employees, two contracted employees and three small busses. We provided service in Centralia, Salem, Patoka and Sandoval. I began my career with SCT as office manager which included scheduling and dispatching trips using a pencil, paper and a giant white erase board. I was also the bookkeeper for SCT, working with a budget of $175,000 in 1991.

I’ve had the privilege of watching SCT steadily grow over the years as our service area expanded, more employees were hired and more busses were obtained, more agencies put their trust in us to provide service for their clients and more of the general public realized the value and convenience of public transit. Today SCT employees 153, maintains 161 busses and provides service to a six-county area.

As SCT grew, I naturally migrated to the grants and financial side of SCT; today I manage a budget of $10M, oversee the accounting functions, bid procurements and the operating and capital funding grants of SCT.

The most significant change over the past 26 years has definitely been the advances in technology. Automated scheduling/dispatching software and on-board computer terminals have allowed SCT to become more efficient and able to serve many more clients daily, and SCT’s continued focus on safety and training allow our clients to be delivered safely and treated with the utmost care and respect.

I feel honored to be a part of such a vital community service and to work with all of the dedicated people that continue to make SCT a success, and I’m excited to see what the next 26 years bring to SCT!