The Hytrol Story

The plant expansion of 1967 resulted in another dramatic increase in sales and improved service to the distributor network. Tom, Chuck, Sam, and Ralph continued to have regular meetings to insure everything was running smoothly and to coordinate the ever-increasing growth of the company. It was absolutely essential that communications be maintained between the Jonesboro plant and the St. Louis Stockyard. The Stockyard continued to be a huge success. Orders continued to pour in to the Hytrol sales office. During one meeting, Tom, Chuck, Sam, and Ralph and a select committee began making plans for Hytrol’s second Distributor Convention. Sam was still making sales calls and visits to the distributor firms, and he often invited the distributor principals out for lunch or dinner. Many times, he asked the distributor to also bring his wife. Sam genuinely enjoyed their company and always felt the wives were a great influence on the success of each distributor organization. Therefore, it was decided that the wives would also be invited to accompany their distributor husbands to this convention. During one convention planning meeting, a theme was chosen for the affair. “Hytrol Leads the Way” would be the convention slogan. The thought behind this theme related to the way Hytrol, as one of the younger conveyor firms in the industry, had shown such dramatic growth during the past five years. Everyone agreed this growth was the result of Hytrol’s unusual approach to 14 “ H y t r o l l e a d s t h e w a y ” : t h e s e c o n d d i s t r i b u t o r c o n v e n t i o n