RICHMOND, Va. — School bus dealership Sonny Merryman Inc. will open a new sales and service center in the greater Richmond area this summer, the company announced last week.

Sonny Merryman Inc. is a distributor for Thomas Built Buses and for various commercial bus manufacturers. The company is headquartered in central Virginia near Lynchburg, with additional sales and service centers in the Hampton Roads area (Chesapeake) and in northern Virginia (Manassas).

The new Richmond-area facility will be located in the Hanover Airpark near the I-95/I-295 interchange in Ashland.

“Expansion into the Richmond area is only natural for our company," said Floyd Merryman III, president and CEO of Sonny Merryman Inc. “We have been fortunate to build and maintain a strong and loyal customer base in Richmond for many years. We are delighted we can now reward that loyalty with convenient local customer support."

Merryman added that in addition to strengthening existing business relationships, the company’s presence in the Richmond market is expected to attract new opportunities.

For the new sales and service center, Sonny Merryman Inc. will initially hire eight to 10 new employees, with plans to add to the workforce as business demands increase. Currently, the company employs more than 140 people statewide.

Sonny Merryman Inc. was founded in 1967 by the late Floyd “Sonny” Merryman Jr. and his wife, Lou.