Corporate Office
Steven M. Hemmerlein
Mr. Hemmerlein comes to North America Central School Bus with more than 20 years of experience in the student transportation industry. He previously served as Senior Vice President at First Student, where he was responsible for the Midwest and South regions. He also held various roles at Laidlaw from contract manager to Senior Vice President, responsible for company operations in the Midwest and West regions. Mr. Hemmerlein is a lifelong Chicagoan and graduated from the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC).
Pat Earley
Mr. Earley is the Chief Financial Officer of North America Central School Bus. Mr. Earley joined North America Central in 2011. Previous senior management experience includes both financial and operational responsibilities in manufacturing, logistics and technology firms. Mr. Earley has an executive MBA from Northwestern University, a Certified Public Accountant and six years Big 4 experience.
Dan O’Brien
Mr. O’Brien joined North America Central School Bus from First Student in 2008. He had been with First Student in roles of increasing responsibility and served as the contract manager servicing eight school districts. Mr. O’Brien has a Bachelor’s degree from Illinois State University and is currently pursuing an MBA with a concentration in Finance at the University of St. Francis.
Keith Lane
Mr. Lane joined North America Central in 2016. He has over thirty years of human resources and labor relations experience, including the school bus business. Mr. Lane is SPHR certified and holds a Master’s degree from Indiana University, Bachelor’s degree from Purdue University, and a law degree from Indiana University’s Robert H. McKinney School of Law.
Greg Miller
Greg comes to NACSB with over twenty years of Director level management experience in fleet maintenance including serving as the Senior Vice President of Fleet Operations and Procurement for a fleet of 18,000 vehicles. Greg’s background includes ten years of transportation consulting and education through the University of Washington and the University of California, Santa Cruz. With his strong business, maintenance, and procurement knowledge and experience, Greg is an excellent addition to North America Central School Bus.
Richard Price
Richard joined NACSB in 2019 as the Regional Safety Manager and was quickly promoted to Director. He has 15+ years of experience at UPS and the airline industry in various safety and operational roles. Richard earned a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Columbia College of Missouri.
Joe Faessler
Joe Faessler is a Director of Business Development for North America Central School Bus. Joe has 25 years’ experience in the school bus industry, transitioning nearly 100 school districts totaling over 3,000 buses. He joined NAC from Petermann/Durham School Services where he served as Director of Business Development. There he led conversion, bid growth and contract retention for the company. Before joining Petermann in 2004, Joe worked 12 years for Laidlaw Education Services in both the West Coast and the Midwest. While at Laidlaw, he helped lead company growth in new contracts. Joe earned his MBA from Pepperdine University, and his undergraduate degree from Ohio University.
Jim Koons
Mr. Koons has recently transitioned from our Regional Management Team to his position as the Corporate Manager of Operational Excellence for North America Central School Bus. Mr. Koons is focusing on projects such as on-boarding, mentoring, training, functional support, due diligence, integration and start-up activities, and location support and assistance. Jim has over 25 years of management experience in the school bus industry, including 8 years with NACSB as the Contract Manager for the O’Fallon and St. Louis locations, and most recently as the Sr. Contract Manager and ROM for our operations in Missouri and Kansas.