Allen Hay Jr., a 27-year banking veteran, will retire as South Carolina Bank and Trust executive vice president on Dec. 31.

“Things have really changed since I started in banking,” Hay said. “When I joined the bank, we were using manual teller machines and no one would have believed you could walk up to the machine, pop in a card and get money.”

Hay said one of the biggest changes he’s seen is the growth in the size of financial institutions.

“We had 10 offices in five counties when I started, and now, we have 50 offices in two states,” Hay said.

When Hay started his career, SCBT employed approximately 120. Today, the company employs close to 800 people in two states.

Hay said his intent was to be “fair and consistent” throughout his career.

“Always establish goals and hold associates accountable for their actions,” he said.

SCBT CEO Robert Hill Jr. praised Hay’s service.

“His experience and leadership have helped us build the strong management team we have today,” Hill said. “Allen is a guy who cares deeply about our employees, whether you have been with the company 40 years or 40 days. I will greatly miss his counsel and leadership.”

Hay’s first job was bagging groceries at the Piggly Wiggly when he was a teenager back in the 1950s. He worked at Holly Hill Lumber Company for 10 years as a personnel director before moving into banking.

In another management move, Claudia Weaver Pardue was named assistant vice president.

A native of Lone Star, Pardue joined SCBT in 2001 as a human resources generalist.

Pardue received her bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of South Carolina.

SCBT Financial was founded more than 70 years ago in Orangeburg. It operates 50 financial centers in 16 South Carolina counties and in Mecklenburg County in North Carolina.

The bank has assets of about $2.8 billion, and its stock is traded under the symbol SCBT in the NASDAQ Global Select Market.

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