TCAT staff promoted to key positions
Tompkins Consolidated Area Transit, Inc (TCAT) announced four staff members were promoted in the agency’s operations, planning, information technology and financial departments.
Promotions of those officially announced at the TCAT Board of Directors at its Sept. 22 meeting include Dameon T. Allen, Erik Amos, Curt Parrish and Gian Fountain.
Allen has been named TCAT’s new operations manager, effective August. Allen was first hired at TCAT in 2018 as a bus operator. He was promoted in 2019 to transit supervisor, during which time he expanded his supervisory skills, completed intensive training and earned transit certifications. Previously, Allen honed his management, public safety and customer service skills while employed at local businesses and the Cornell Police Department.
As TCAT’s operations manager, Allen is responsible for daily operations and for providing support to transit supervisors, dispatchers, bus operators, bus handlers and the passenger amenities supervisor. Allen also oversees training and skill development, employee relations and ensures operational compliance with state and federal rules and regulations.
Amos, who served as TCAT’s service and operations analyst since January, has been promoted to service development manager, also effective in August. Amos was the finance director of GreenStar Cooperative Market for five years and, prior to that, a point-of-sale coordinator for a food cooperative in Austin, Texas. A longtime transit rider and advocate, Amos has earned a master’s degree in geography (urban planning) from SUNY Binghamton and a bachelor’s degree in sociology from the University of Oregon.
In his new position, Amos is responsible for overall system design to include long-range service guided by TCAT’s most recent Transportation Development Plan (TDP). As a best practice, most transit agencies undergo a TDP approximately every decade for an improved system design, but with implementation dependent upon financial and human resources.
Parrish, who has served as TCAT’s facility and vehicle maintenance supervisor since 2019, was named TCAT’s procurement coordinator this past spring. Parrish, a NYS certified motor vehicle inspector, has worked for regional companies as both a manager/technician and engineering technician, which involved oversight in purchasing processes. Parrish served in the U.S. Army and trained with the U.S. Navy, with a work history involving signal collection/identification and cryptoanalysis. He earned near-perfect scores in aptitude tests at the U.S. Naval Technical Center in Pensacola, Fla.
Parrish is responsible for overseeing TCAT’s procurement process to include bid development, maintaining standards and procedures for the purchase of supplies, equipment and services.
Fountain was promoted to TCAT’s information technology manager earlier this year after serving as IT administrator/ specialist since 2019. Fountain previously earned a Bachelor of Science in information technology with honors from SUNY Canton. He previously worked as an IT engineer for a national company where he coordinated networks at offices across the country.
Fountain is responsible for the management and oversight of TCAT’s IT department, which includes coordinating, planning and overseeing the operations of TCAT’s technological infrastructure, cybersecurity, user training and support, bus technology systems, security systems and compliance. He is also responsible for the development of best practices and standard operating procedures.
