Bus company plans to build $3 million service hub in Prattville

Marty Roney, Montgomery Advertiser
·2 min read
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PRATTVILLE ‒ A Missouri-based bus company is making an up to $3 million investment in Prattville, bringing two dozen jobs to the city with salaries of $18 to $38 an hour.

Central States Bus Sales plans to build a service/maintenance hub in the city's West Industrial Park to handle its Alabama service contracts. The Fenton, Mo., company is the largest distributor of Blue Bird buses. The Prattville location will handle school buses along with military and municipal fleet buses, said Jeff Reitz, company president and chief executive officer.

Construction on the 20,000-square-feet building is expected to take nine months to a year, said Bryant Whaley, economic development director for the City of Prattville. The total investment is expected to be between $2-and-a half and $3 million, he said. The move will bring up to 25 full-time and five part-time jobs to the city, Whaley said.

The site will not build buses, but will outfit the buses to customer needs and maintain them under contract.

The last hurdle of the deal was crossed Friday morning when the Prattville Industrial Development Board agreed to sell about nine acres in the industrial park to the company. The price was $240,000, the appraised value of the 8.67 acres.

Reitz wants to begin construction as soon as possible.

"I have an appointment with a builder at 10 (a.m.)," he told the board, just after the meeting convened at 9 a.m.

This will be the sixth service hub for the company, with other locations in Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Missouri and Tennessee. The Alabama service contracts are now being handled out of the Nashville location.

The choice of coming to Prattville was an easy on, Reitz said.

"The close proximity of I-65 and I-85," he said. "It's two and a half hours from the bus plant. And it's a growing city."

Blue Bird builds its buses in Fort Valley, Ga., near Warner Robins, Ga.

Contact Montgomery Advertiser reporter Marty Roney at mroney@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Bus company plans to build $3 million service hub in Prattville