Employers
School bus maker Blue Bird Corporation plans to invest an estimated $300 million in a new manufacturing facility in Fort Valley, Georgia, and create 375 new jobs over the next three years, Gov. Brian Kemp and the Georgia Department of Economic Development announced Wednesday, Oct. 21.
The company will convert a former diesel motorhome plant at 401 Wanderlodge Way in Fort Valley into a 1-million-square-foot factory. The new plant is to build Type C school buses, the conventional style with the engine ahead of the windshield, in diesel, gasoline, propane and electric versions. Construction is expected to begin in the first quarter of 2027.
What kind of jobs, and when
The state says Blue Bird will hire for manufacturing, operations and technician roles, and it points applicants to the company’s careers site at blue-bird.com/careers. The release does not give wage levels, a hiring start date, a breakdown of the 375 positions by role, or the size of any construction workforce.
The 375 figure is a three-year job-creation plan, not a count of openings posted today. Because construction is not scheduled to start until early 2027, most of the production hiring tied to the new building is likely to come later. The $300 million is likewise an estimate of planned spending, not money already invested.
Blue Bird already “supports more than 1,900 employees in Georgia,” according to the release, so the project adds to an existing employer in the community. It does not bring a new company to the county.
Where the plant is
Fort Valley is the seat of Peach County in Middle Georgia, outside the Atlanta metro area. The announcement describes the expansion as building on Blue Bird’s “existing footprint in Peach County.” The company was founded in 1927, and state officials pointed to its upcoming centennial and its long record of growth in Fort Valley and Middle Georgia.
GDEcD Regional Project Manager Candice Scott represented the state’s Global Commerce team on what the release calls a “competitive project,” together with the Development Authority of Peach County and Georgia Quick Start, the state’s workforce training program for new and expanding employers. The release does not list tax credits, grants or other incentives, and it does not describe the training Quick Start will provide.
“Georgia is where Blue Bird was born, and it has been our home for nearly 100 years,” said John Wyskiel, Blue Bird’s president and chief executive. Peach County Commissioner Roy Lewis called the investment “a monumental win for our entire community.” GDEcD Commissioner Pat Wilson said the project shows Blue Bird’s legacy “continuing to create jobs and opportunity in a rural Georgia community.”
An earlier plan for the same site
This is not the first plan for the old Wanderlodge plant. In July 2024, Blue Bird said it had been selected for an $80 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to convert the former motorhome plant into an electric school bus factory of about 600,000 square feet. The grant was to cover half of a $160 million project that the company said would add more than 400 manufacturing jobs. Wanderlodge motorhomes were built at the site from 1963 until 2019. The selection was subject to final contract and funding negotiations with the department.
In August 2025, Sen. Jon Ossoff’s office said those federal funds were frozen and that Blue Bird had not yet heard from the Energy Department about the grant’s status. Wednesday’s state announcement does not mention the federal grant. It describes a larger building that will make buses with every powertrain rather than only electric models. Blue Bird had not posted a statement on the project on its investor relations site as of Wednesday morning, so the grant’s current status and how it relates to the new plan remain unclear.
For job seekers in Middle Georgia, the practical takeaway is a long timeline. Watch the company’s careers page for production, operations and technician openings as construction gets underway in 2027. Wages and specific hiring dates have not been announced.
Sources
- Georgia Department of Economic Development, “Blue Bird Invests $300 Million in Peach County,” October 21, 2026. https://georgia.org/press-releases/2026/blue-bird-invests-300-million-peach-county
- Valdosta Today, “Blue Bird Announces $300 Million Expansion in Georgia,” October 21, 2026. https://valdostatoday.com/news-2/region/2026/10/blue-bird-announces-300-million-expansion-in-georgia/
- Blue Bird Corporation via School Transportation News, “Blue Bird Selected to Receive $80 Million Federal Grant to Expand Electric Vehicle Manufacturing,” July 11, 2024. https://stnonline.com/industry-releases/blue-bird-selected-to-receive-80-million-federal-grant-to-expand-electric-vehicle-manufacturing/
- Office of Sen. Jon Ossoff, “Sen. Ossoff Presses Trump Admin to Continue Supporting Blue Bird School Bus Manufacturing in Middle Georgia,” August 5, 2025. https://www.ossoff.senate.gov/press-releases/sen-ossoff-presses-trump-admin-to-continue-supporting-blue-bird-school-bus-manufacturing-in-middle-georgia
Featured photo: Rows of yellow school buses on a Blue Bird Corporation lot in Fort Valley, Peach County, Georgia, Dec. 24, 2017. Existing Blue Bird operations; not the planned plant at 401 Wanderlodge Way. Photo: Michael Rivera, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0). Cropped from the original.
