From humble beginnings to industry leader | Austin Weekly News

As Manufacturing Month kicks off this October, Freedman Seating Company is marking a significant milestone — 130 years of innovation and craftsmanship. From its humble 19th-century beginnings as an upholstery shop, Freedman has evolved into a leading manufacturer of seating solutions for buses, trains, boats, and commercial vehicles. The Augusta Boulevard company’s products are familiar […]

Gerald Freedman 1937-2024

It is with profound sadness that we announce the passing of Freedman Seating Company Chairman, Gerald “Jerry” Freedman. He left us peacefully, surrounded by those he loved. Jerry was a remarkable leader who inspired Freedman’s core values of integrity, community, pride and ownership. His unwavering commitment to these principles shaped not only the company but […]

Freedman Seating Creates New Careers With Welding Automation

Cobots created opportunities for Freedman to scale up productivity quickly by giving people more productive tools and adding more value. Next time you sit in a bus, train or ferry seat, consider that manufacturing career opportunities come in many forms. Chicago, Ill.-based Freedman Seating Co. is a leading supplier of transportation seating and safety solutions […]

Welding cobots improving efficiency on the production floor | The Fabricator

Metal fabrication shops share experiences with using cobots and other welding automation. Welding automation is nothing new for Marvin Herrera and Corey Mays, as their jobs have incorporated it in some form or another for years. Their respective workplaces, Freedman Seating Co. and CM Welding & Machine, had traditional robotic cells in place. Both companies have introduced cobots […]

New Standards for Passenger Seating in 2024 | Busline Magazine

From flooring to HVAC, cameras to wheelchair lifts, there is no shortage of must-have components to consider when purchasing a bus. Whether propane or electric, shuttle or coach — passenger needs should be heavily considered when it comes to the bus’s interior, perhaps nothing more than seating.   Here are three features you should have already […]

Company Spotlight | Manufacturing Today Magazine

Strap yourself in and find out how Freedman Seating has become the cornerstone of the transportation industry. Since 1892, Freedman Seating (Freedman) has been engineering and manufacturing seats and seating-related products for a variety of commercial applications. Handed down over four generations, the family-run business has gone on to become North America’s leading supplier of […]

Team Freedman Presented With Manufacturing Month Proclamation

On October 12, 2022, Freedman Seating Company was presented with a Proclamation from the State of Illinois celebrating manufacturing as the states most significant single economic sector, employing 9.74% of the workforce and contributing more than $108 billion in economic output annually. Signed by Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, the Proclamation was presented to Craig Freedman, […]

Creative Bus Sales Collaborates With Forest River, Q’Straint, BraunAbility, and Freedman Seating on the New 2022 Ford E-Transit

The new E-Transit passenger van distributed by CBS will give customers the confidence in the highest standards of quality, safety, and reliability that each brand has achieved in their respective product specialties. INDIANAPOLIS, IN – Creative Bus Sales, the nation’s largest bus dealership, has collaborated with Forest River, Q’Straint, BraunAbility, and Freedman Seating to construct […]

Freedman Seating To Showcase Driver and Truck Products at WorkTruck Week 2022

Freedman Seating is excited to announce we’re exhibiting at Work Truck Week 2022, held March 8–11 at the Indiana Convention Center. This will be the first in-person WorkTruck show since 2019. For more than 20 years, the people who design, build, use and maintain the work trucks and equipment the world relies on have gathered […]

Jobs go unfilled in areas where workers are needed. | Crain’s Chicago Business

A small West Side manufacturer who’s hiring can’t “just pluck people off the street.” December 15, 2021 By: Alby Gallun  Read the full article here. For decades, the economic challenge on the South and West sides has been too many people and not enough jobs. Freedman Seating faces the opposite problem. The company, which makes […]

STN Podcast E89 – Dan Cohen and Tony Corpin Discuss School Bus Safety and SeatLink

In a recent interview with School Transportation News, Dan Cohen, President, discussed 3-point safety and technology with STN Publisher and podcast host, Tony Corpin. Listen: (STN Podcast E89) Vigilance & Community: Tragic Headlines, Child Vaccines & Special Needs Who’s buckled and who’s not…why guess? SeatLink by Freedman Seating monitors occupancy and seat belt status of […]

Seating and Safety Solutions on Display at APTA Expo 2021

Freedman Seating Company will feature its latest innovations and solutions for bus and rail markets at APTA EXPO November 8-10 at the Orange County Convention Center. APTA’s TRANSform Conference & EXPO is public transit’s premier showcase of technology, products, and services. APTA EXPO: RECONNECT & RE-ENGAGE APTA EXPO is BACK after four long years. So much […]

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