The Hytrol Story

feature could be quick and easy. The conveyor had only a 2 percent minimum back pressure to eliminate any problems with product damage. This was another of Tom’s revolutionary ideas! Not all of Hytrol’s products and ideas were successful, however. While some conveyors and accessories were readily accepted and sold by the distributors, other products failed and were withdrawn from the product line. Examples of items that didn’t quite make it were the Bottle & Can line of conveyors and the Hytrol Trolley conveyor. But, over the years, Hytrol more than made up for these quirks by the important and timely introduction of other products. In February of 1976, Hytrol’s sales and engineering teams conducted the first “System Sales School” at Jonesboro. Fourteen students attended the three-day school. This school was geared to covering subjects dealing with the design, engineering, and sales of conveyor systems. The name of the school was later changed to “Advanced Sales School” as the curriculum was updated. Students who had graduated from the basic school were invited to attend this advanced school. During the April, 1976, board of directors meeting, Sam Leone and Dan Loberg accepted new positions in the company. Sam became Executive Vice-President and Dan was appointed Vice- President of Sales & Marketing. Dan Loberg’s addition to the sales area proved an important step in his career and in Hytrol’s future. He was later made a member of the Hytrol board of directors and was well-liked by all who knew him. His contributions to the company were invaluable through creative ideas of sales promotion and interesting ways to impress the distributors in the conventions where he was chairman. Dan was accepted and greatly admired by Hytrol’s distributor organization. In 1979, Dan was taken from us all in an automobile accident. Shock prevailed at Hytrol for many weeks to come after this tragedy. It took quite some time for the Hytrol Family to recover from this terrible loss. Later, the Hytrol health club was renamed “Dan’s Health Club” after Dan, who was the inspiration for and driving force behind construction of the facility. The Jonesboro family of employees continued to grow as did Hytrol. In March of 1977, the Stockyard was expanded to an additional 30,000 sq. ft. The inventory now included 50 conveyor models in over 2,200 sizes. In early spring of 1977, Tom received a call from Lester Jarlsberg. Les said he still had that first conveyor Tom had made for him, “Ol’ Number One,” and wondered if Tom would like to have it back. Tom told him yes, and it was shipped to Hytrol in Jonesboro. When it arrived it was in