INDUSTRY CONNECTIONS
ACQUISITION EXPANDS HICKORY SPRINGS’ REACH IN SEATING MARKET
Global manu-
facturer Hickory Springs acquired seating man- ufacturer Te C.E. White Co. during the first week of January.
Financial terms were not disclosed. Company officials said combining both
companies would take place within 90 days of the acquisition. C.E White’s headquarters will remain in New Washington, Ohio. C.E. White manufacturers seating
products for the commercial, transit and school bus markets. Founded in 1944, Hick- ory Springs Manufacturing Company has expanded its global presence beyond core furniture and bedding markets to embrace growth opportunities in transportation. Hickory Springs said C.E. White will
provide service to its customers as usual. David Colburn, president and CEO of
Hickory Springs, added that the acquisition would enhance opportunities for both com- panies as it leverages the core capabilities of each provider. C.E. White President and CEO Tony Ev-
erett said the acquisition creates a “three-legged stool” for a complete, integrated seat product. Hickory Springs will provide the metal frame and the foam for seats, while C.E. White will provide the cut and sewn seat covers. “As a result, we can anticipate increased business opportunities and a positive impact on the communities in which C.E. White operates,” noted Everett, who will report directly to Lee Lunsford, executive vice president and chief operations officer at Hickory Springs. “Our go-to market strategy is to integrate
a multiple of our manufacturing capabilities to become a low-cost manufacturer of trans- portation seating solutions,” said Lunsford. Since 2007, Hickory Springs has also
owned Triad Fabco Industries, supplier and manufacturer of rebond, polyurethane used in school bus seat backs. For decades, Hickory Springs had supplied Triad Fabco with the polyurethane foam and foam trim in its bus seat cushions.
A woman embraces a young boy before he boards his school bus on the first day of school after the holiday break in Newtown, Conn., on Jan. 2, just weeks after a gunman shot and killed 20 first-grade students and six adult teachers and administrators at Sandy Hook Elementary School on Dec. 17 in the second-worst school shooting in U.S. history. Children from Sandy Hook returned to school Jan. 3 in the neighboring town of Monroe.
Massachusetts Mandates Finger- printing of New School Employees
G
ov. Deval Patrick signed a bill into law Jan. 11 that requires all new school employees, including school bus drivers, to submit fingerprints for criminal background checks. Under H. 4307, the Department of Early Education and Care and school districts are authorized to conduct
fingerprint-supported national criminal history background checks on all newly hired teachers, school employees, bus drivers, subcontractors, early education and care, and out-of-school time providers. For new school employees, the background checks must be completed by the
start of the 2013-2014 school year. All current employees must undergo national background checks during the next three years, before the start of the 2016-2017 school year. Te fingerprints will be submitted to the state police for a state criminal history check and forwarded to the Federal Bureau of Investigation for a national criminal history check. “Prior to this law, school districts and early education providers were allowed
only to conduct name-based Criminal Offender Record Information (CORI) checks covering criminal history record information for crimes committed in Massachusetts,” DEEC officials said in a statement. “Tese CORI checks did not include any criminal history record information for crimes committed outside the Commonwealth.” Te bill went before the legislature last July and passed Dec. 31. Approval came
weeks after authorities announced an indictment against a convicted sex offender who allegedly videotaped himself sexually assaulting children from his wife’s unlicensed day-care business. Last year, the Newtown (Mass.) Public Schools expanded its background check
procedure for teachers to include Sex Offender Registry (SORI) checks. Massachu- setts follows Oregon, New York, Maine and Texas in requiring the fingerprinting of teachers and other school employees.
26 School Transportation News February 2013
AP PHOTO/JESSICA HILL
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