Scalley, a graduate of Georgia Tech, joined Genuine Parts Company in 1951 as a Sales Trainee in New York City. He was named Assistant to the General Manager in New York in 1960 and General Manager of the NAPA Distribution Center in Boston in 1963.

Scalley moved to Columbus, Ohio, in 1967 to head the newly established Central Division of Genuine Parts and moved to Atlanta in 1974 to head the Southeast Division. In 1976 he was named a Group Vice President of Genuine Parts Headquarters in Atlanta. He was elected Executive Vice President in 1986 and appointed to Genuine Parts Board of Directors in 1987. He was Chairman of the National Automotive Parts Association (NAPA) for a number of years. Scalley was a Vice President and Director of the Automotive Hall of Fame and also served as a Director of Automotive Warehouse Distributors Association.

Genuine Parts Company Inductees and Awardees
1993 Awardee Dan Askey
1997 Inductee Joseph R. Degnan
1989 Awardee Earl Dolive
1981 Inductee Carlyle Fraser
2020 Inductee Thomas Gallagher
1991 Inductee William C. Hatcher
1992 Inductee Wilton D. Looney
1999 Awardee Larry L. Prince
1997 Awardee Carol Yancey