Hartford Business Journal

5 HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM | JANUARY 17, 2022 CORNER OFFICE Webinar: 2022 Economic Outlook: What's next for Connecticut? In this special webinar, the Hartford Business Journal will bring together a panel of thought leaders to discuss the short and long term economic outlook for the region and state. In addition to the panel discussion, we will highlight the recent findings from our annual Economic Outlook Survey. JAN 19 | 10:00AM • REGISTER NOW • HARTFORDBUSINESS.COM/HBJ-EVENTS/2022-ECONOMIC-OUTLOOK-WHATS-NEXT-FOR-CONNECTICUT Kenneth J. Entenmann, Chief Economist and Chief Investment Officer at NBT Wealth Management David Lehman, Commissioner, Department of Community and Economic Development PANELISTS: PRESENTED BY: commercial license, DeVivo said, resulting in a delay in filling seats with new hires. The company is offering experienced licensed bus drivers a $3,000 signing bonus in certain locations where shortages are most acute; pay raises have been implemented to retain employees, some of whom have been with the company for decades, he said. Some relief Federal grant money has helped DATTCO meet its payroll, thanks to a grassroots campaign launched last year by the motor-coach industry to champion emergency federal relief after the sector was overlooked in the first $2 trillion COVID rescue package passed by Congress in March 2020. As chairman of the American Bus Association (ABA), DeVivo, with son Kyle DeVivo, a vice president at DATTCO, actively lobbied lawmakers with other industry members — collaborative efforts that paid off. The Coronavirus Economic Relief for Transportation Services (CERTS) Act was contained in the second $900 billion COVID-relief package passed in Dec. 2020, and earmarked $2 billion directly to motor-coach operators, school bus companies and passenger vessel operators, requiring 60% of any grant or loan received to go to payroll. "When the act came through, it was game changing and helped us get back on our feet more quickly," DeVivo said, though DATTCO didn't receive any grant money until the fall of 2021. That time lag was detrimental to the industry as a whole. The ABA estimates 25% of the U.S.' 3,000 bus companies have closed since the start of the pandemic. Family business DATTCO has weathered past economic downturns, with its roots springing from DeVivo's uncle Ed and father Louis. The two brothers drove school buses part time in the 1940s to supplement income from their family farm, which was started up by their father, an Italian immigrant also named Louis. The company that would evolve into DATTCO reaches back to 1949, and by the early 1960s, grew into a local transit and school bus operator. Over the next six decades, the company expanded into more school districts and motor-coach services, purchasing new vehicles and diversifying into new business lines. Today, those include running training programs for commercial drivers and mechanics, fleet repair services, dealerships for Thermo King, which sells and services refrigeration for trucks and buses, a property management subsidiary and a tool wholesale distributor. DeVivo, who graduated from the University of Hartford, also holds a master's degree in public administration and a law degree from the University of Connecticut. After practicing law for a few years, he found the motor-coach industry was in his blood and returned to the family business. To this day, he continues to hold a commercial driver's license, first earned at age 18. Married to his college sweetheart Patricia for 32 years, DeVivo has sons, Kyle and Kevin, also at DATTCO, who plan to maintain the third generation family-owned business. Outside of work and family, DeVivo's other passion is sports. He's a big New York Yankees and New York Giants fan, follows hockey and college football and relates his sports knowledge to running a company. "In business, you always try to make the right decision, but you can't be afraid to take a risk," he said. "It's part of the game." U.S. Motor-Coach Industry 2,963 Number of motor-coach carriers in the U.S. as of 2017, according to the latest data analyzed by the American Bus Association. 32,920 Number of motor-coaches operating in the U.S. in 2017, according to ABA data. 574.6 million The number of passenger trips recorded by the motor-coach industry in the U.S. and Canada in 2017. 98,500 The number of people employed by the motor-coach industry in the U.S. and Canada in 2017. By The Numbers:

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