A Short History of Ward/AmTran/International
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D. H. "Dave" Ward founded Ward in Conway, Arkansas in 1933 when he "lowered the roof of a wooden bus for Mr.
Carl Brady of the Southside Schools". Southside Schools were located about 15 miles north of Conway. In the
1930s, Ward Body Works produced its first all-metal body bus. In the 1960s, Ward School Bus Manufacturing,
Inc. was responsible for many notable innovations including use of computers in manufacturing (using IBM 360s),
safety advances, and manufacturing process improvements. In the 1970s, Ward opened a manufacturing facility in
Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, but this plant was closed in 1975. In 1979, Ward Industries filed for chapter 11
bankruptcy. Arkansas Governor Clinton was instrumental in putting together a group that bought the assets of
Ward Industries. In 1980, the American Transportation Corporation was formed. In 1981, American Transportation
Corporation began doing business as AmTran Corporation.
In 1983, the Harmon brothers purchased controlling interest of AmTran. In 1991 Navistar purchased stock of
American Transportation Corporation. The era of mergers and acquisitions among chassis and bus body
manufacturers was thus begun. Navistar International purchased one-third interest in AmTran Corporation. The
action was initiated by Jerry Williams, AmTran's CEO. Navistar also obtained an option to allow them to buy
remaining two-thirds stock by April 1995. Navistar exercised the option on remaining American Transportation
Corporation stock and completed the purchase in 1995.
In 1999, AmTran announced plans to build a new facility in Tulsa, Oklahoma that would employ 1200 people.
The conventional (International IC) buses would be built at the new facility, but the Conway, Arkansas facility
would continue to produce the rear-engine ("International RE") and front-engine ("International FE") school
buses. In 2000 Navistar began using the "International"
trade name for the company's products. In 2002 the company changed it's product marketing name to IC
Corporation and opened a new Web site in August of 2002 (
http://www.ic-corp.com/).
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