The Hytrol Story

pretty bad shape; very rusty, and in need of substantial reworking. Winford Wyatt, who then worked in Hytrol’s Research & Development area and has since passed on, took the unit and completely overhauled it. He restored it to its original condition. In doing so, he had to replace a few items such as drive chain and some nuts and bolts. But when he finished and plugged it in, it still worked! Today, Ol’ Number One sits in the Hytrol Sales Room on permanent display. Time marched on and with the help of his many friends in the Hytrol Family, sales continued to skyrocket for Tom Loberg’s conveyor manufacturing company! In 1976, sales went over the $10 million mark and three years later, in 1979, doubled that figure to over $20 million! Another major plant expansion began in late 1979. When it was completed in early 1980, the size of the Jonesboro plant totaled over 300,000 sq. ft. This was just another indication of the fantastic growth Hytrol had experienced since moving to Jonesboro in 1962. In less than 20 years, the factory had gone from a 26,480 sq. ft building with 40 employees to 400 employees in a 300,980 sq. ft building. As the Hytrol Family entered the 1980s, there was no one in the material handling world that could deny that Hytrol was now one of the most well-known and trusted brands in the industry. Tom, Sam, Ralph, the Hytrol family of employees and the Hytrol family of distributors were sitting on top of the world!