New Flyer introduces Accelerate Anniston: a scholarship and educational incentive program coming to life under its Anniston Workforce Development Program

New Flyer introduces Accelerate Anniston: a scholarship and educational incentive program coming to life under its Anniston Workforce Development Program

Financial support expands pathways to employment, advances careers and skill sets, and helps build greater representation of underserved people in manufacturing

ST. CLOUD, Minn., Jan. 27, 2021 /CNW/ - (TSX: NFI) New Flyer of America Inc. ("New Flyer"), a subsidiary of NFI Group Inc. ("NFI"), one of the world's leading independent global bus manufacturers, today announced the launch of Accelerate Anniston™, a scholarship and educational incentive program providing financial support to deserving recipients in the Anniston, Alabama region to continue educational studies.

A total of $25,000 is available, including scholarships and grants for school instructors to redesign curriculum as required. Eligible trades or areas of study include electrical, electronics, welding, production control, painting, computerized machinery, and more. Applications for Accelerate Anniston™ will open in spring of 2021, when further detail regarding applications will come available.

Accelerate Anniston™ is one of several initiatives coming to life within the Anniston Workforce Development Program ("AWDP"), a local program announced in September 2020 and launched under New Flyer's Community Benefits Framework ("CBF"), a national workforce development initiative introduced by New Flyer and its partner the Transportation Diversity Council ("TDC") earlier in 2020. Those eligible for Accelerate Anniston With New Flyer include those identifying as underserved, underrepresented, or disadvantaged individuals, encompassing:

• Candidates from the greater Anniston community who qualify for employment,
• Recent high school graduates (over 18 years) with requisite skills, qualifying them for employment, and
• Current New Flyer employees looking to improve skills and advance their career

Under the AWDP, partnerships with community-based organizations ("CBOs") such as the Anniston School District and Calhoun County Career Academy will help identify deserving recipients of scholarship stipends and education development incentive grants. The grants will be used to support alignment  of various school technical curricula with skill sets needed on the production floor, to support greater representation of underserved individuals in advanced manufacturing.

Scholarship applications, assessments, and disbursement will be managed by the TDC, New Flyer's ongoing partner in workforce development and a critical contributor to AWDP development.

"Since welcoming the Anniston team to New Flyer in 2013, we have steadily moved forward with new and enhanced programs, investments in workforce development and technology, and continued focus on diversity and inclusion," said Chris Stoddart, President, New Flyer and MCI. "The Accelerate Anniston scholarship and educational incentive program, coming to life under our AWDP, is critical to the success of advancing inclusion and representation in manufacturing. We are proud to support underserved, underrepresented, and disadvantaged individuals in reaching their educational and career pursuits, and to seeing them join and accelerate through the ranks at New Flyer."

"We have moved quickly since introducing the AWDP alongside New Flyer," said Dwayne Sampson, Founder and President of TDC. "This kind of initiative – this financial support – is critical for those facing systemic barriers and needing help to overcome them on the journey to fulfilling careers. It's a new day in America and for workforce development. New Flyer has recognized this, and also recognized how to provide solutions to barriers while continuing to invest in the community, to ensure all people have the opportunity to succeed in manufacturing and the new mobility era."

Local programs under the CBF are comprised of commitments, initiatives, and partnerships shaped by and tailored to a specific community with its participation. Using this approach, program benefits are localized to and inclusive of the unique needs, cultures, and characteristics of a community's citizens, including its underrepresented, underserved, and disadvantaged people.

As a result of the AWDP, New Flyer has strengthened its local community outreach and recruitment capacity, committing to the placement of groups of people not traditionally employed in the manufacturing industry, including those considered underrepresented, underserved, and/or disadvantaged individuals. This also includes commitments on wages and benefits, working with community-based organizations on recruitment, delivering intensive on-the-job and classroom training, and supporting pre-apprenticeship and apprenticeship programs.

For information on Accelerate Anniston and the CBF, visit newflyer.com/CBF, and for information about Transportation Diversity Council, visit tdc-ntl.org.

New Flyer has been leading innovation in mobility for 90 years, and today supports growing North American cities with sustainable buses, technology, and infrastructure. It also operates the Vehicle Innovation Center, the first and only innovation lab of its kind dedicated to advancing bus and motor coach technology and providing essential workforce development through electric bus training, now available online. New Flyer is testing automated vehicle technology and remains committed to the development of technology standards that deliver safe, clean, sustainable, connected mobility options to communities.

About NFI

Leveraging 450 years of combined experience, NFI is leading the electrification of mass mobility around the world. With zero-emission buses and coaches, infrastructure, and technology, NFI meets today's urban demands for scalable smart mobility solutions. Together, NFI is enabling more livable cities through connected, clean, and sustainable transportation.

With 8,000 team members in ten countries, NFI is a leading global bus manufacturer of mass mobility solutions under the brands New Flyer^® (heavy-duty transit buses), MCI^® (motor coaches), Alexander Dennis Limited (single and double-deck buses), Plaxton (motor coaches), ARBOC^® (low-floor cutaway and medium-duty buses), and NFI Parts™. NFI currently offers the widest range of sustainable drive systems available, including zero-emission electric (trolley, battery, and fuel cell), natural gas, electric hybrid, and clean diesel. In total, NFI supports its installed base of over 105,000 buses and coaches around the world. NFI common shares are traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol NFI. News and information is available at www.nfigroup.com, www.newflyer.com, www.mcicoach.com, www.arbocsv.com, www.alexander-dennis.com, and www.nfi.parts.

About New Flyer

New Flyer is North America's heavy-duty transit bus leader and offers the most advanced product line under the Xcelsior^® and Xcelsior CHARGE™ brands. It also offers infrastructure development through New Flyer Infrastructure Solutions™, a service dedicated to providing safe, sustainable, and reliable charging and mobility solutions. New Flyer actively supports over 35,000 heavy-duty transit buses (New Flyer, NABI, and Orion) currently in service, of which 8,600 are powered by electric motors and battery propulsion and 1,900 are zero-emission. Further information is available at www.newflyer.com.

SOURCE New Flyer of America Inc.