LOCAL BUSINESS LEADERS CELEBRATE NEW BUS FACILITY FOR
RIVERBEND HEAD START & FAMILY SERVICES AND WELCOME A NEW BUSINESS TO THE AREA

MADISON COUNTY, ILL., October 29, 2010 . . .  With the help of RiverBend Growth Association, Riverbend Head Start & Family Services (RHSFS) held a ribbon cutting ceremony and open house event to celebrate the opening of its new bus facility in Wood River.  The event also served as a celebration in welcoming Apple Bus Company into its first operation in Madison County, Illinois.

The nearly 75 guests at the event received the opportunity to see the newly developed property and facility, meet the employees of Apple Bus Company and learn more about this new business in the neighborhood.

Apple Bus Company, based in the Kansas City, Missouri area is a full-service transportation contractor that operates pupil and public transportation throughout the Midwest.

Apple Bus Company was chosen as transportation contractor for RHSFS following an extensive bid process whereby RHSFS evaluated its existing bus contract and bid out with other area transportation providers for the best value-added services.

According to Mike Oyster, president and owner of Apple Bus Company, “Our company is very particular in choosing the organizations with which we wish to partner.  My wife and I are the sole owners and we seek partnerships with organizations, like Riverbend Head Start & Family Services, who share in our high standards of service and view what they are doing as good and significant.”

The bus fleet consists of 21 buses, with 17 running daily.  RHSFS formerly received transportation services from First Student Busing in Edwardsville.  According to Gene Howell, Community Services Coordinator for RHSFS, “Having our own bus facility is a new venture for the Agency.  Now we have a dedicated lot and a mechanic for light maintenance, which will allow us to increase the quality of service.  We chose Apple Bus Company after reviewing several other transportation providers and were most impressed by their experience with children with special needs and believe they will be sensitive to our population of children with increased needs.”

While the lot will have a dedicated mechanic on staff to do light maintenance for the buses, Southern Bus and Mobility in Breese, Illinois will provide heavy maintenance services for the fleet.
Total investment in the startup of the bus facility to date is over $100,000, which does not include the generous in kind donations of vendors provided in labor and materials.  Mark Darr, owner of Federal Steel and Erection Co., is the owner of the property and has, himself, donated approximately $40,000 worth of services to get the bus facility up and running.

Marilou Gieseking, terminal manager of RHSFS’s Apple Bus Facility, “As property owner, Mr. Darr has met our every need.  I have managed Riverbend Head Start’s transportation for 18 years under different bus contracts and am very pleased with Apple Bus Company and the fact that they are a family-owned business and very oriented to hiring local and buying local.  The morale here has been great and we are so pleased to have been able to hire many of the same former bus drivers that have worked at this terminal in the past under various contracts.”

Gieseking says 42 of the 48 drivers under a previous contract were retained while an additional 3 drivers were hired that worked under different contracts at the facility over the years.

Since 1916 RHSFS has provided unduplicated child development and counseling services to families in Madison County.  Through its Head Start, Early Head Start, and Transitions Counseling programs the agency enables children and families to develop positive skills to meet life’s challenges by promoting education.

For the young child Riverbend Head Start & Family Services offer early childhood education, as well as health and nutrition services. For families and individuals they offer mental health counseling, social services, family literacy and various individual strengthening and family support services.  For more information about Riverbend Head Start & Family Services and its program, please visit www.riverbendfamilies.org or call (618) 463-5946.