PLYMOUTH TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WXYZ) — Bus manufacturing is making a comeback in Michigan.
Pareto Mobility, operating out of a Plymouth Township warehouse, is producing what its owner says is the first fully flat-floor commercial bus available in North America and creating jobs in the community along the way.
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AJ Kumar, Founder and Chief Executive of Pareto Mobility, said the company started as a solution to a problem he identified in the transportation industry.
"It was not a dream right in the beginning. When I saw the problem in the industry and I saw that I can solve this problem, then it became a dream and that dream became a passion, and every dream is just a dream until more people start dreaming, " Kumar said.
He eventually got a team to buy into the dream and they moved forward.
The bus features a fully flat low-floor design, meant to make it easier for people using wheelchairs, walkers, and other mobility devices to board without a wheelchair lift.
"Normally the low-floor buses either have a step in it or they have a slope. This is the first bus in North America that is totally flat from front to back, which people can buy right now," Kumar said.
The first bus built at the new plant is getting its final touches before being sent to a dealer.
"You can come right in the front and then because there are no steps, you can sit anywhere in the vehicle that you like," Kumar said.
The plant is also creating jobs in Plymouth Township, particularly for young graduates entering the workforce for the first time.
Roland Hill, from Farmington Hills, said this is his first job and described how the opportunity came at a critical time.
"I'm very grateful for it because I graduated in 2023 and I've been struggling to find something," Hill said.
Ferdinando Tijerina, also in his first job, moved to Michigan from Texas for the opportunity.
"Getting this hands-on experience that only people with, I don't know, 10 years of experience can get, I'm getting it with one year," Tijerina said.
Wes Graff, president of the Plymouth Community Chamber of Commerce, said Pareto Mobility is a welcome addition to the area and a sign of growth for the once-vacant Burroughs Corporation manufacturing plant. The company occupied the local plant for decades, serving as a 5,000 employer specializing in engineering for banking equipment.
"There's a lot of different companies within the building itself. It's been rehabbed and they're a great addition. We're really happy to have them," Graff said.
Plymouth Township Supervisor Chuck Curmi echoed those sentiments.
"Pareto is the perfect example of the kind of new business we want moving to Plymouth Township. They have technology, research and light manufacturing all under one roof. And ironically, the Burroughs Corporation did the same thing who occupied that building from 1936. They had product engineering, research and manufacturing all in the same location for the products that they produced in Plymouth Township at the Plymouth Road plant," said Curmi.
Kumar said the goal is to make this kind of accessibility the standard and to accomplish that locally.
"There are a lot of great engineers, there are a lot of good technicians, there's space, there's everything. So why not Michigan? And then why not Plymouth?" Kumar said.
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