Phil Horlock, who led school bus manufacturer Blue Bird as president and CEO from 2011 to 2021, is back in that role effective immediately. He replaces Matthew Stevenson, who is leaving both the company and Blue Bird's board of directors for personal reasons.

"I am delighted that Phil will be resuming his position as president and CEO of Blue Bird," said Kevin Penn, chairman of the board. "Phil brings extensive knowledge and experience of the school bus industry and the company to this role. During Phil's prior tenure, Blue Bird significantly grew both top-line and bottom-line financial results and firmly established itself as the industry leader in alternative-powered school buses. Phil was instrumental in driving Blue Bird to develop electric-powered school buses and to establish a leadership position in the delivery of these buses. It's great to have Phil leading Blue Bird once again."

Horlock will be relocating to Macon, Georgia to assume the leadership position at Blue Bird’s headquarters.

“It’s an honor to be back at Blue Bird,” said Phil Horlock. “We have an amazing team in place and I am looking forward to building off the strong first half performance and driving future growth at Blue Bird. I’m very excited to be rejoining our team in Georgia.”