Christine Imbs Americans love their automobiles. But with gas prices soaring, mass transportation has taken on a new appeal. And Larry Salci, president and CEO of Metro, couldn’t be happier. “I get a great deal of satisfaction knowing others are benefiting from something I helped build,” he says. Since joining Metro in 2002, Salci has transformed the agency into a more efficient and customer-friendly Metro system than we’ve had in the past. It’s all part of a cultural change that he says emphasizes accountability and service. “Fixing Metro was a full-time job,” he explains. “The organization was not disciplined and things just were not running as they should. I brought accountability to this agency. We’re all accountable to somebody for something. I’m accountable to the board and the stake holders. And my staff has to feel accountable too. Their accountability has to be the customers. These are people, not statistics. And the bottom line is not dollars and cents, it’s service.” That Salci is so passionate about his work comes as no surprise. A native of Detroit, automobiles and the transportation industry is in his blood. Salci’s grandfather worked as a metal finisher at the Chrysler Corporation. He remembers vividly his grandfather taking him through the plant. “It was amazing. There were all these cars in various states of assembly,” he says. “And then there were the robots and other machines. As a 10 year old boy I was just awed by it.” As awestruck as he might have been, after spending two summers working in the foundry and warehouse at Pontiac Motors, any thoughts of following in this line of work vanished. The work was hard, hot and monotonous. “It was hard on me, and these guys had done it for 20 years,” he says. “We’d get a seven minute break every hour, and the guys would just watch the clock counting down the minutes to that next break. I couldn’t do it. These guys were hard core and I admire them. But if I had to spend my life like this, I’d blow my brains out.” Salci went on to get his MBA from the University of Detroit. After graduation, he went to work for Chrysler and then with Southeastern Michigan Transportation Authority, where he ran the transit system. He moved on to top positions at Budd Transit Group in Philadelphia, Bombardier Corporation (USA), Morrison Knudson Corporation in Chicago and American Passenger Rail Car Company. Then at the ripe old age of 53, he retired. “I was tired of the travel. I think I did close to three million miles in 20 years,” he says. “So I retired, moved to South Carolina, built a house, played golf, and got bored.” Boredom has not been an issue at Metro. In the four years he’s been here, Salci has developed a nationally-recognized vehicle maintenance program, directed a 20-mile extension of MetroLink in Illinois to Shiloh/Scott Air Force Base, and directed new Bus Transfer Centers in Clayton and 14th/Spruce in St. Louis. But it’s the newly-completed Cross County extension of MetroLink that really gets him excited. “Prior to this, we built MetroLink out of abandoned rail rights of way. So this is the first real urban rail system that we’ve built from scratch—complete with subway stations and elevated tracks,” he comments. “I’m very excited about it, and I think the community will be too, once they’ve had the chance to use it.” The new Cross County extension adds eight miles to the rail system and nine new stations: Skinker, University City-Big Bend, Forsyth, Clayton, Richmond Heights, Brentwood I-64, Maplewood-Manchester, Sunnen and Shrewsbury-Lansdowne I-44. Salci says developers are already taking notice around the stations for transit-oriented new development. “From a pure ridership standpoint, this is going to be very successful. But I think it’s going to spur along economic development too,” he says. “We’ve already got developers talking to us about new development around the stations. There’s no doubt, this is going to be a great asset to St. Louis.”   TalkingPoints BORN: Detroit, Mich. MARRIED: Wife, Karen; a son age 31 and daughter age 35. EDUCATION: B.S. in Finance and MBA from University of Detroit. FIRST JOB: A paperboy for the Detroit Free Press. DREAM CAR: 1965 AC Shelby Bristol Cobra in candy apple red. LAST BOOK READ: “Jack Welch on Leadership” HOBBIES: Golf, every chance I get, and music. WHAT HE LIKES MOST ABOUT ST. LOUIS: The Cardinals and Budweiser

October 2006 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Cover Story with Joseph Imbs, U.S. Bank David Steward Mark S. Wrighton Saint Louis Art Museum - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - www.stlrcga.org - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - www.technologygateway.org - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Technisonic BJC SportsWorks Larry Salci David Campbell, Little Hills Winery & Restaurant