Blue Bird Corporation announced Thursday it was selected to receive an $80 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to expand electric vehicle manufacturing and workforce development.
"We are delighted the U.S. Department of Energy supports our plant conversion project above the many applications that were submitted," says Phil Horlock, CEO of Blue Bird. "The grant will enable Blue Bird to reinvest in middle Georgia, building on a site that previously manufactured high-end motorhomes. It will also enable Blue Bird to expand its workforce and invest in a community that is integral to Blue Bird's history and continued success. We are looking forward to fully participating in the next phase of the negotiation process with the DOE."
The grant is subject to final contract and funding negotiations between Blue Bird and the DOE, which could take up to 120 days.
The funding is part of a $2 billion investment to convert automotive facilities to manufacture electric vehicles and components, retain and expand good-paying manufacturing jobs and bolster domestic supply chains. Blue Bird's grant comes from the Domestic Automotive Manufacturing Conversion Grants program, administered by the Office of Manufacturing and Energy Supply Chains (MESC). Blue Bird is one of 11 companies chosen for grants, including Cummins.
The grant is 50% of the total investment required to complete Blue Bird's conversion project. It will help convert the Fort Valley, Ga., site, shuttered in 2019, into a 600,000-square-foot, state-of-the-art electric vehicle manufacturing facility. The conversion will help Blue Bird produce more Type D electric school buses, adding more than 400 jobs.
"There is nothing harder to a manufacturing community than to lose jobs to foreign competition and a changing industry," says U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm. "Even as our competitors invest heavily in electric vehicles, these grants ensure that our automotive industry stays competitive — and does it in the communities and with the workforce that have supported the auto industry for generations."
