The new OATS Northwest Regional office facility, located at 1306 South 58th Street in St. Joseph, Missouri, has had its official ribbon cutting ceremony with the Chamber of Commerce along with distinguished guests from MODOT, the Federal Transit Administration as well as OATS Board of Directors and administrative staff in attendance.

Left to right: Steve Billings, Administrator Transit, MoDOT; Paul Strickland of Midwest Mobile and the St. Joseph Chamber of Commerce; Beth Langley, Northwest Regional Director, OATS, Inc.; Linda Yeager, Executive Director, OATS, Inc.; Nolan McNeil, Board President, OATS, Inc.; Susanne Walden, Board Member, OATS, Inc.

The office, which became operational in August of 2010, is now welcoming the public. The facility, which is similar in design to the building in Columbia, Missouri where the Mid-Mo Region and home offices for OATS are housed, includes features such as a large training room, a bus wash, covered parking for the fleet of vehicles OATS maintains and a garage for light vehicle maintenance.

“This new facility is a real boon for OATS because for years we operated out of the

basement of the Kmart Plaza, which was clearly not set up to be an operational facility. In terms of looking toward the future, one of the things that I have tried to accomplish for OATS is to develop stability. Stability in this case means a place in which we can operate successfully,” stated Linda Yeager, Executive Director for OATS, Inc.

The Northwest Region of OATS provided more than 246,000 one-way trips last year, serving over 5,000 local people who need transportation assistance. The new facility will provide more space and efficiencies, saving money for the company. This will help OATS to continue to provide services for those in need.

“The new facility in the Northwest Region means a lot for the drivers and the residents of northwest Missouri; with our new facility we are able to service and maintain our buses. We keep our fleet underneath a canopy so they’re protected from the weather. We also have the bus wash area where we’re able to clean and wash our fleet and keep it top notch,” said Beth Langley, Regional Director of the Northwest region for OATS, Inc.

The project, which began in 2009, was partially funded with a grant from the Federal

Transportation Administration and administered by MoDOT. This grant provided for 80 percent of the total project cost.