The Hytrol Story

I n June of 1962, Tom Loberg made the decision to look for another location for Hytrol Conveyor Company. Tom called it “D-Day” (Decision Day). He looked at a couple of towns west of Milwaukee, but these were unsuitable for Hytrol. It was known that some states offered businesses help if they would consider moving to their state. Wisconsin was one of those states, and since Tom didn’t really want to leave his home state, he contacted the Wisconsin Industrial Commission for possible help. This proved unsuccessful so he began looking at other states. He traveled to Indiana, Michigan, and Iowa but none of these locations looked promising. Tom called some friends in the material handling industry. Russ Moss, a friend at Screw Conveyor Corporation in Hammond, Indiana, told Tom about their success in moving a plant to Mississippi. His company was well pleased with the move there. But he advised Tom not to move to Mississippi. He suggested he call Winthrop Rockefeller, the head of the Arkansas Industrial Development Commission. Russ said that Tom could get a “better deal” from Arkansas. Sam echoed the feelings about a move to Arkansas and the Arkansas Industrial Development Commission. He had told Tom and Chuck about Colson’s success in their move from Elyria, Ohio, to the small city of Jonesboro, Arkansas. Jonesboro’s population at that time was just about 18,000. Tom even went so far as to telephone the officials at Colson in Jonesboro. They told him everything there was going well and had no regrets about moving to Jonesboro. Tom made a call to the Winthrop Rockefeller office of the Arkansas Industrial Development Commission, and arrangements were made for Tom and Chuck to travel to the state. They included a trip to Jonesboro and a meeting with the city representatives. They discussed a plan similar to the one that had been made for Colson. When Tom and Chuck left to return to West Allis, an agreement had been made with the City of Jonesboro, Arkansas. 8 t h e m o v e t o j o n e s b o r o , a r k a n s a s