New Flyer plant restarts production after transit funding crisis in New Jersey
by Canadian Manufacturing.com Staff
Empty public coffers had forced the Canadian company to halt production on New Jersey Transit coaches at its North Dakota plant
WINNIPEG—New Flyer Industries Inc.’s bus manufacturing plant in Pembina, North Dakota has restarted production on a major transit bus order from New Jersey Transit.
The Canadian company was forced to pause production on close to 200 buses in July after its subsidiary Motor Coach Industries (MCI) received a halt production order from the New Jersey government because of a funding shortfall in the state’s Transportation Trust Fund Account. After several months of uncertainty, the state government alleviated the funding issues when Governor Chris Christie signed an executive order lifting the suspension of funding for transit projects Oct. 14.
“We are relieved the New Jersey funding crisis has come to an end and that the company can return to building coaches for the State of New Jersey,” Paul Soubry, MCI’s president and CEO, said. “We carefully weighed the risks and made measured decisions when the contract was suspended with the objective of balancing the impact on our key stakeholders: our employees, our customers and suppliers and our shareholders.”
With payments and production scheduled to recommence immediately, New Flyer said it has withdrawn any advanced layoff notices issued to employees and does not anticipate any job cuts.
