Abstract:
Thomas Built Buses was founded in 1916 by Perley A. Thomas in High Point. Thomas was working for the Southern Car Company, and when that company went out of business, he started his own streetcar company. When streetcar use declined, he moved into the manufacture of buses. Today his grandson, John W. Thomas, Jr., is chairman, president, and CEO of the company, which turns out about fifty buses a day. Thomas is profiled in NORTH CAROLINA magazine's “executive profile.â€