Local Astorian
Expands his Pendleton Based Business
To Astoria
By Mary Nauha
Former student and resident, Scott Jacobson, is pleased to announce that his Pendleton-based company is expanding to add another branch office serving Clatsop County. Astoria will be joining the Safe T Transport Family, who also has a branch office located in Hermiston, Oregon, and is looking to open another one in LaGrande. Jacobson’s home and main office is in Pendleton, where his administrative and human resource departments are located. Scott’s prior experience is in a varied job with the state.
With a college background in geriatrics, he has previously worked with his area’s Agency for Aging for sixteen and a half years. For twelve of those years, part of his duty was in overseeing and developing a transportation program. He’s had his own company for what’s going on four years now. According to Scott, the business is “a passenger service company, primarily focusing on non-emergent medical transportation for the community, both local and long distance. In addition, we offer limousine rentals and charter bus services at our current locations. We are considered to be a Dial-A-Ride Car Service with 15 employees and are currently seeking 2 part-time drivers in the Astoria area. Our motto is ‘dependable, reliable, and friendly’–we are looking for conscientious and caring individuals for these positions.”
Once filled, training will be provided by the company in First Aid, CPR, and defensive driving. Employees are also required to obtain a special certification through the state called ‘Passenger Assistance and Safety Training’. This training is provided by the brokerage, which is Sunset Empire District, and is a two-day class covering how to assist wheel-chair patients, the appropriate way to talk to people, and non-emergent medical assistance. According to Jacobson, “This job requires a lot of individualized assistance, because what’s good for one client isn’t necessarily good for another and when you’re relying on someone to operate a wheel-chair lift, there’s definitely an element of trust involved. For that reason, we really like to get to know our clients so that we can provide the individualized assistance that they just aren’t going to get anywhere else.”
Safe T Transport will bring three vehicles to the area just to start with, including a large Ford wheelchair van. They are looking to duplicate what they have in Pendleton, and will eventually be in need of more drivers and other personnel in the office for dispatch. Their Clatsop County branch is operating under contract with the Sunset Empire Transportation District. Licensed with the State of Oregon, Sunset Empire receives funding for providing assistance to those who are medically disabled or elderly and is extremely happy to have secured Jacobson’s services. “Being that I’m from the area, I know what the need is and I know the people, so I just want to be sure that need is going to be met and not be like a big company coming to town that doesn’t have a vested interest. You know, I have a dog in the fight,” says Jacobson, “because my family’s from here.”
Jacobson jokes that his parents are upset with him that he won’t take over the family farm, located near the Lewis and Clark area in Astoria. “I’m no farmer,” he says, “and my wife is a banker, so there’s just no way that I could convince her to do that.” When asked whether he’d ever consider relocating to the area, however, Scott waivers a bit. “There’s been talk of her bank opening a branch here, so I’m not going to say it could never happen but when some of my drivers in Pendleton offered to relocate to the area I just had to say, ‘really’? Because, you know, it rains a lot here and I just remember it being a really depressed place as a child. But it certainly has changed a lot now. I’m trying to remain open to the idea. Certainly, I’ll be making more regular trips over here now with the new branch office being open.”
The local office has been operational since February 20th and will be open for business very soon, having hired an office manager and secured a location at Smith Point, located at 657 West Marine Drive in Astoria. They will be offering medical and dental transportation services to the area as well as personal transportation services provided to seniors and those with disabilities. Safe T Transport will be in contract with the Veteran’s Hospital so those services will soon be available, too, and–no surprise–Jacobson says there are also limousine and charter bus services potentially in the works.
Sunset Empire Transportation District is under contract with the State of Oregon throughout Clatsop, Columbia and Tillamook Counties offering Mr. Jacobson the potential for immediate expansion of his medical transport services. Funding for this is also provided through privatized insurance and members of OHP Plus, so there is no out-of-pocket to his client. Personal transportation services outside of insurance are priced on a sliding scale to meet the financial needs of the individual. For more information, or to inquire about applying to work with Scott, his staff can be reached at his new toll-free number: (877) 564-1134.
