IC Bus and parent Navistar Inc. celebrated a production milestone on Tuesday: the 100,000th school bus built at the company's Tulsa, Okla., plant.  

“This plant demonstrates our commitment to the school bus industry by building quality, state-of-the-art products,” said John McKinney, president of Navistar Global Bus and IC Bus.

Officials said the production of the100,000th bus — which will be presented to Student Transportation Inc. (STI) — is also a testament to IC Bus’ commitment to the community, as the Tulsa plant contributes to the current growth trend of manufacturing in the U.S.

“We are proud that IC Buses are built with the skill and expertise of the best employees in the industry,” McKinney added. “As we look to the future, we will continue to work with other industry leaders like STI to provide our customers with the right solutions they need to get their children to and from school safely and efficiently.”

“This plant and this bus represent what is great about businesses working together,” STI founder and CEO Denis Gallagher said. “Converting this plant from a former airplane factory to now making the safest school bus in the world is a testament to private enterprise. There is a lot that goes on behind the scenes of a daily Americana event, the transportation of children to and from school. The school bus is the safest form of transportation, and we are here to thank the workers of the plant for making that happen.”

As SBFpreviously reported, the Tulsa facility was built in 1941 to manufacture B-24 bombers, which were used by Allied forces in World War II. The plant had been sitting idle when IC Bus took it over, launching school bus production in 2001. An event was held last year to celebrate the operation's 10th anniversary.

Today, the Tulsa bus plant employs more than 1,200 workers who manufacture, on average, 50 to 75 buses a day.