Skills Training is Key to Filling Jobs

The Chicago Tribune describes the national trend of open jobs in the manufacturing sector without enough skilled workers to fill them.  Click here to read full story.

Hytrol Wins Two ADDY® Awards!

Congratulations are in order to one of our own!  Hytrol Conveyor Company in Jonesboro, Arkansas, recently received Gold and Bronze ADDY^® awards from the American Advertising Federation - Northeast Arkansas. Click here for more.

Industry Week: IT Investments Make Big Impact

"Information technology is changing the competitive dynamics in the manufacturing industry," according to Manju Bansal, Senior Director at SAP.  Bansal sets forth a framework to guide IT investment decisions.  Click here for article.

January Good for U.S. Manufacturers

January's numbers indicated positive results for U.S. manufacturing, as reported by Robert Brooks of American Machinist.  "The overall January 2012 year-to-date increase for manufacturing was 4.5%, and the improvement extended to factory capacity utilization rates, which rose 0.5% for the month to a rate of 77%."  Click here for more.

Leadership Development Needed

According to an Industry Week Forum, there is a concern among executives regarding the bench strength of leadership talent.  About 30% of those executives surveyed indicated that developing leaders and succession planning are their top talent priorities.  Click here for more.

Chamber Survey Indicates Positive Trends!

Each January, the Jonesboro Regional Chamber of Commerce requests an update on capital investments and job growth from local industry.  The level of response to this year's survey (for 2011 information) was at 45% (interestingly, there is higher participation when the survey is sent by snail mail than by e-mail).  Survey respondents made $35.9 million in capital investments and added 459 new jobs in 2011.  Although in 2010 reported capital investments were double the dollar amount of 2011, two companies accounted for 79% of those investments; reported capital investments in 2009 were 8% less than in 2011.  The number of new jobs reported in 2011 was approximately 10% higher than 2010, and a whopping 97% higher than 2009.  Clearly we are seeing positive trends in investments and new jobs in Jonesboro.

The Jonesboro Sun: Grant boosts education

The Hytrol Workforce Readiness Grant was recently awarded to Michael Barrett, precision manufacturing and machining instructor at Northeast Arkansas Career & Technical Center.  Barrett partners with Doug Imrie at Southern Cast Products, a local facility that allows the use of their materials and equipment to complete some of the students' projects.  Read entire Jonesboro Sun article.