In 1925, a small-town Ford dealer in Georgia named Albert Luce attached a wooden coach to the top of a Model T frame and sold it to the owner of a cement plant who wanted a way to transport his workers.
The idea evolved into a business and nearly a century later the company — known as Blue Bird Corp. — has become one of the biggest school-bus builders in the country.
To stay ahead though, Blue Bird is transforming again. The company is shifting more of its business to electric school buses, even as it continues to crank out the same diesel-powered models that have ferried kids to school for generations.
The new approach for Blue Bird — and its competitors — is due in part to a windfall of money the Biden administration has steered to the industry.
