State College-based Fullington Auto Bus Company is once again 100 percent family-owned.
The transportation service provider announced on Thursday that Michael and Lory Fullington had re-purchased all outstanding company stock shares from the previous parent company, RATP Dev, a global transportation business based in Paris.
“We’re excited to begin the new year, a re-birth of sorts, with total ownership and control of the company,” Michael Fullington said in a statement.
Fullington provides daily bus service to several destinations along with tours, charters and motorcoach services. It was founded in 1908 by Emerson Fullington and his three sons as a livery and surrey company in Clearfield and the business was passed down through four generations.
“That’s my family’s name on the sides of those buses,” Michael Fullington said. “I feel a personal responsibility for making sure we honor that legacy in everything we do as a company.”
Majority ownership of the company was sold in 2009 to RATP Dev, which was looking to enter the U.S. market .
Fullington CEO and president Jonathan Berzas said the company has grown over that time.
“We’ve learned a lot from each other. And we’re pleased with what we were able to achieve together,” Berzas said.
“We can now focus our organization exclusively on meeting the transportation needs of our customers,” he added.
Negotiations to re-purchase the company began in early 2017 and concluded in December.
For the Fullingtons, the business is about the people in the local community.
“We’re not just co-workers serving customers, we’re family serving friends and neighbors,” Lory Fullington said.
