CREST Center at A-State Receives $500,000 Investment from Hytrol Conveyor Company

People standing holding a large check. — CREST and Hytrol Conveyor Company representatives included (from left): Jerry Morgan, Dr. Robin Myers, Dr. Calvin White, Ike Wheeler, Robert Jones, Phillip Poston, David Peacock, and Ruth Poston.

With a gift of $500,000, Hytrol Conveyor Company becomes CREST’s founding industry partner.

JONESBORO – The Career Readiness Education and Skills Training (CREST) Center, currently under construction at Arkansas State University, is poised to serve the Northeast Arkansas community once completed.

"CREST was never intended to be something A-State could build alone,” said interim Chancellor Calvin White Jr. “Its success depends upon bringing education and industry together around a common goal: creating more opportunities for the people of Northeast Arkansas while building the workforce needed for the future.”

Today, Hytrol Conveyor Company committed a $500,000 gift, becoming CREST’s founding industry partner.

“Hytrol has spent more than six decades growing alongside Jonesboro and Northeast Arkansas,” said Philip Poston, chief administrative officer at Hytrol. “Our future is tied to this region, and we believe that one of the most important investments that we can make is in the people that drive that future. "

White continued, “They employ our neighbors, support our communities, and invest in the people who call Northeast Arkansas home. Hytrol understands that their success is connected to the success of this entire region. That understanding is at the heart of CREST.”

CREST is bringing employers to the table, listening to the skills that they need today, while anticipating what they will need tomorrow. The CREST Center will prepare people to succeed in a rapidly changing workforce.

The ASU System Board of Trustees recently named the primary workforce training space in the CREST Center in recognition of the company. The Hytrol Workforce Training Room will be part of phase one of the three-phase building process.

“When completed, the Hytrol Workforce Training Room will be a place where people develop skills, discover opportunities, and prepare for careers that can change the trajectory of their lives and those of their families,” White added.

"The naming of the Hytrol Workforce Training Room is meaningful to us,” said Poston. “We like what that room will represent. It will be a place where people gather to learn, develop new skills, collaborate, and prepare themselves for what's next.”

The $18 million phase one of construction will be a 26,000-square-foot facility, expected to be completed by spring 2027, with classes beginning in fall 2027.

Mark Young, president and CEO of the Jonesboro Regional Chamber of Commerce, said this all started more than three decades ago, when the Workforce Training Consortium (WTC) was formed to look ahead at the ever-changing needs of our community.

“CREST is the culmination of that vision that happened over 30 years ago,” said Young. “It will provide not only an opportunity for employers to better prepare the existing workforce, but it also provides an opportunity to train the future workforce. CREST will play an impactful, meaningful role in people’s lives.”

Made possible through a $7.5 million grant from the Arkansas Department of Commerce Higher Industry Readiness through Educational Development (HIRED) program, the CREST Center will eventually be a 70,000-square-foot facility. Craighead County, Jonesboro Unlimited, and WTC have committed additional funding.

“We are proud to be the founding industry partner. We look forward to continuing the work alongside Arkansas State, ASU-Newport, Arkansas Northeastern College, and the many community partners that will make CREST Successful,” added Poston.