Sharron and Jim Galusha, founders of San Luis Obispo, Calif.-based Silverado Stages, announced the appointment of John Busskohl as the company’s new CEO.

Busskohl has been an executive in the motorcoach and bus industry for the past 24 years and has managed large, multi-market organizations for most of that time. He was one of the founding shareholders of Coach USA and has previous transportation management experience with a host of operations, including Ryan’s Express; Keolis Transit America, formerly Tectrans; and Coach America.

“Silverado has tremendous growth potential; both organic and through acquisitions, which is what attracted me to the company,” said Busskohl. “It also has the added benefit of being an ESOP (Employee Stock Ownership Program) company, which greatly aids in making the company stand out in this industry. One of the major benefits of the ESOP is that it fosters greater customer service and employee retention by making the employees owners.”