Becky Robbins of the Rotary Club of Jamestown, Rhys Preston, operations manager of the New Flyer plant in Jamestown, and Marion Beckerink, Rotary Club of Jamestown president, are pictured.

Rhys Preston, general manager of New Flyer – Jamestown, welcomed the members of the Rotary Club of Jamestown to tour the local company and learn more about its production.

Preston has been with the company here since it opened in October 2016. Preston brought more than 35 years of manufacturing experience to the Jamestown Community College/Chautauqua County Industrial Development Agency-supported NYS Start-Up efforts of New Flyer of America. Preston is employed as Operations Director of the Roger Tory Peterson Institute.

Preston explained, New Flyer is North America’s heavy-duty transit bus leader and offers the most advanced product line under the Xcelsior and Xcelsior CHARGE brands. It also offers infrastructure development through NFI Infrastructure Solutions, a service dedicated to providing safe, sustainable and reliable charging and mobility solutions. New Flyer actively supports more than 35,000 heavy-duty transit buses (New Flyer, NABI, and Orion) currently in service, of which 8,600 are powered by electric motors and battery propulsion and 1,900 are zero-emission.

Leveraging 450 years of combined experience, NFI is leading the electrification of mass mobility around the world. With zero-emission buses and coaches, infrastructure, and technology, NFI meets today’s urban demands for scalable smart mobility solutions. Together, NFI is enabling more livable cities through connected, clean, and sustainable transportation.

With 9,000 team members in ten countries, NFI is leading global bus manufacturer of mass mobility solutions under the brands New Flyer (heavy-duty transit buses), MCI (motor coaches), ARBOC (low-floor cutaway and medium-duty buses), and NFI Parts. NFI currently offers the widest range of sustainable drive systems available, including zero emission electric (trolley, battery, and fuel cell), natural gas, electric hybrid, and clean diesel. In total, NFI supports its installed base of over 100,000 buses and coaches around the world.

Preston explained that the NFI Jamestown Primary is one of eight similar facilities throughout North America that assembles and fabricates parts for bus production in Anniston, Ala., , Crookston, Minn., St. Cloud, Minn., and Winnepeg, MB, Canada (NFI Headquarters). Parts include a vast array of electrical, mechanical and powertrain assemblies that include Cummins engines made at the Jamestown Engine Plant in Busti.

Currently, the Jamestown plant has 106 employees, most of whom are from the immediate Jamestown and surrounding area. Employees are compensated with a very comprehensive wage and benefits package ranked in the top 10% OF Chautauqua County and are supported by the IUE/CWA Union. They are currently operating on one shift from 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. on weekdays in the renovated Quality Market and adjoining drugstore on Fluvanna Avenue. A recent renovation was completed in July 2024 to support increasing production demands in 2025 and beyond.

Tours followed Preston’s presentation led by him and two employee-leaders, Jason Burt, materials manager, and Matt Storms, production cell leader. Following the tours, Preston visited with Rotarians to answer questions and express appreciation for the tour.