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 the manufacture of New Flyer transit buses, MCI motor coaches and spare parts for NFI Parts all business units 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 up to 550 people.

Wayne Joseph, president of New Flyer of America, said that “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.”

The Shepherdsville facility will also provide additional U.S. content to assist in complying with the increased Buy America requirements under the 2015 FAST Act. Joseph says that “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.”

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