Blue Bird Plants Ranked Among Best by IndustryWeek Magazine

Fort Valley, GA (July 26, 2005) – IndustryWeek has named two of Blue Bird Corp.'s plants among its 25 finalists in the magazine's 2005 Best Plants competition. Blue Bird's North Georgia Body Co. plant in Lafayette , Ga. , and its Canadian Blue Bird Coach Ltd. plant in Brantford , Ont., are among the finalists recognized for such characteristics as dedication to continuous improvement and outstanding performance in safety, quality and productivity.

Finalists were chosen from plants across all of North America , although only twice in the award's 15-year history has a Canadian company won. The selection of the LaFayette and Brantford plants as finalists, therefore, marks a significant accomplishment .

IndustryWeek will select the 10 winners of the 2005 IW Best Plants competition from the list of 25 finalists. Profiles of the Top 10 plants will appear in the October 2005 issue of IndustryWeek .

Blue Bird attributes nominations for this prestigious award to the commitment and effort put forth by its employees. “We are very honored to be recognized as one of the top 25 manufacturing plants in North America , and it is a testimonial to the people of Blue Bird North Georgia,” said LaFayette General Manager Kevin Wood . Tony Kerwin, Brantford General Manager, echoed this sentiment. “We are very honored to join the elite group of companies that have been selected as this year's finalists,” said Kerwin. “Our success can be very simply stated. Companies don't succeed … people do!”

“Obviously we are very proud and excited to receive this honor from IndustryWeek ,” continued Blue Bird CEO Jeff Bust. “While everyone in the company is proud of this accomplishment, the employees at those two facilities deserve special recognition for a job extremely well done.”

Founded in 1927, Blue Bird employs nearly 2,500 people throughout three facilities in North America . For more information visit www.blue-bird.com .

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