Bus Maker to Invest $28M in New Facility, Coatings

New Flyer of America, the largest transit bus and motor coach manufacturer and parts distributor in North America, will invest approximately $28 million for capital equipment and building preparations to establish a new part fabrication facility in Shepherdsville, Kentucky, that will include new coatings operations.

The 300,000-square-foot facility will fabricate parts for New Flyer transit buses and MCI motor coaches, and spare parts for NFI Parts, a business unit of the NFI Group. Production is expected to commence during the second quarter of 2018, and, once fully operational by December 2019, the facility expects to employ as many as 550 people.

“After extensive research, we chose Kentucky due to its available workforce, lower operating costs and central location relative to NFI Group’s other U.S. manufacturing plants,” says Wayne Joseph, New Flyer president.

The Shepherdsville facility will also help the company comply with the increased Buy America requirements under the 2015 FAST Act. “Targeted processes for this new facility include hose manufacture, injection molding and thermoforming plastics, metal fabrication and machining, powder coating, and electrical component manufacture, the majority of which is currently supplied by third parties,” Joseph says.

NFI Group currently employs 176 people at Parts Distribution Centers in Louisville and Hebron, Kentucky.