Sonny Merryman taps new president and CEO

Beginning Aug. 9, Caley Edgerly will take the wheel as president and CEO of Lynchburg bus dealer Sonny Merryman Inc., as current CEO Floyd Merryman III moves into his new role as executive chairman of the family business started by his father nearly 55 years ago.

Edgerly previously served as president and CEO of North Carolina-based school bus manufacturer Thomas Built Buses for six years, presiding over the debut of the Saf-T-Liner C2 Jouley electric school bus. In 1994, Edgerly joined Detroit Diesel as a quality control engineer. He went on to hold multiple positions with the Daimler Trucks North America LLC affiliate, including serving as general manager of remanufacturing for its parent company.

Merryman said in a statement, “Our team here at Sonny Merryman has been leading the electric school bus revolution — not only in Virginia but across the country as well. Caley’s wealth of experience and expertise will be a key asset to continuing our company’s growth in the electric bus industry.”

In 2019, Merryman accepted the Thomas Built Buses Dealer of the Year award from Edgerly.

“I’ve known Floyd and the Sonny Merryman team for nearly 10 years,” Edgerly said in a statement. “From first meeting him and getting to know the dealership, I learned that not only are they some of the most knowledgeable and skilled in the industry, but above all else, their customers are their priority. I’m thrilled and honored to be part of a team with those core principles.”

Merryman is a longtime donor to the Virginia Tech Pamplin College of Business, where an athletic facility bears the family name. He and his family committed $2 million to be split between Pamplin and the school’s athletic program in 2019.

Sonny Merryman also recently added the first non-employee member to its board of directors: John Dooley, former CEO of the Virginia Tech Foundation.

Founded in 1967 by Floyd W. “Sonny” Merryman Jr., Sonny Merryman Inc. is headquartered in Lynchburg, with additional bus centers in Chesapeake, Ashland and Manassas. Along with schools, the company partners with public transit agencies, Head Start agencies, child care centers, private schools, senior living communities, churches and others. In 2018, Sonny Merryman won a contract from Dominion Energy Virginia for the first phase of an electric school bus rollout to Virginia school systems.