An FE Series school bus, manufactured by IC Corp. Change font size

CONWAY - The owner of a plant that has made school buses in Conway for decades said Thursday that it would end bus-production operations there soon, affecting up to 477 jobs at the facility.

IC Corp.'s parent company, Warrenville, Ill.-based Navistar, told employees of the plan Thursday.

"We have to consolidate our bus-assembly operations into one facility," Navistar spokesman Roy Wiley said. "Unfortunately for Conway, Tulsa is a much newer facility."

Navistar opened the Tulsa plant in 2000, moving into a former aircraft manufacturing facility. Wiley said a smaller operation would continue at Conway, making bus parts.

Wiley said school bus orders have fallen because of the economic downturn.

According to Wiley, as many as 477 jobs could be involved, either through layoffs or dismissals. He said layoffs would not start until Jan. 4.

Conway Area Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Brad Lacy said the loss of that many jobs was horrible news for the community. But the impact is more than economic, he said.

"This community has been in bus production since the 1930s, and it was something we identified with our community," Lacy said. "When you lose that, you lose a piece of your history."

The company was long known as Ward School Bus Mfg. Inc. and headed by Charles Ward. Ownership changes led to different names - American Transportation Corp., AmTran and most recently IC Corp.

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Thursday's announcement comes more than a year after IC Corp. in Conway laid off 470 people, including 300 it announced in January 2008.

(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)  

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