West Point Tours, Inc. takes top honor
By Jason Kaplan
On Oct. 16, during a gathering for the New York State Bus Contractors Association, Robert Brisman, president of West Point Tours, Inc. accepted the Roger Weeks Contractor of the Year award for his company. There were 24 other companies, throughout the state, in the running.
“It’s really appreciated,” Brisman said of the honor. “It’s a very prestigious organization made up of top leaders in the bus business in the state.”
The company was last recognized as the top contractor 40 years ago.
“We have a good team and I think we all deserved it because of COVID this year,” Brisman said. “We have a really good culture.”
West Point Tours was incorporated in 1947 and founded by Brisman’s grandfather, but didn’t originally transport students to and from school. In the 1940s to 60s, the company focused on building bus bodies on motor coaches. While making a delivery to Highland Falls, a gentleman who was running the buses there, said he was not in a position to take delivery of school buses and instead a deal was brokered for West Point Tours to go into the school transportation business, said Brisman.
In 1960, West Point Tours began offering transport to and from school in the Cornwall Central School District, the Highland Falls-Fort Mont-gomery Central School District, the Newburgh Enlarged School District, as well as for the United States Military Academy to the West Point elementary and middle schools.
The company currently has 250 buses in its fleet and transports one million students in an average year including athletic and field trips.
In awarding the Contractor of the Year award, the NYS Bus Contractors Association considers a number of factors such as safety, success during a challenging time, as well as the company’s culture to include understanding, care, honor and professionalism.
“West Point Tours employees represent all of those traits,” said Brisman.
