Built With A-State
Hosted by Todd Shields, Built with A-State is the definitive tactical guide for industry leaders looking to partner with Arkansas State University. This series provides a transparent "user manual" for engagement, detailing everything from the CREST program to faculty collaboration models. By removing academic jargon, we simplify the process for organizations to access university resources and scale their regional impact.
Built With A-State
Leadership Through Involvement: From Campus to C-Suite with Phillip Poston
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Seventy-five percent of the journey from “Add to Cart” to your front door can run through conveyor and material handling systems built in Arkansas, and that single fact opens up a much bigger conversation about jobs, skills, and the future of advanced manufacturing. We talk with Phillip Poston, Chief Development Officer at Hytrol, about how Hytrol’s work connects to global logistics and why long-term leadership means investing in capacity, culture, and people even when the payoff takes years.
We also get personal about what shapes a career. Phillip shares how Arkansas State University mentors pushed him toward professionalism, how campus involvement built real leadership reps, and why relationships with professors and alumni still matter decades later. From there, we dig into workforce development through Hytrol’s DRIVE Academy and the CREST partnership (Career Readiness Education and Skills Training), including stackable credentials, technical certificates, associate degrees, and micro-credentials that can evolve as fast as technology does.
The hardest part of preparing talent in 2026 isn’t just teaching technical skills; it’s building durable skills like problem solving, critical thinking, and communication while automation and AI tools keep changing the rules. We also cover internship strategy, why early applications matter, and why cybersecurity now touches everything from phishing emails to internet-connected building systems.
If you care about manufacturing careers, higher education innovation, and economic growth in Northeast Arkansas, this conversation is for you. Subscribe, share the episode with a friend, and leave a review with the one skill you think every graduate should have. Make sure to follow socials @arkansasstatemedianetwork.
Welcome And Guest Introduction
SPEAKER_03Hello and welcome to Built with a State. I'm Todd Shields, Chancellor here at Arkansas State University. And I'm very excited today to welcome Philip Poston, who is Chief Development Officer at Hytrol. Well, thank you. Thanks so much for being with us here today. Yeah, glad to be here. Thanks for inviting me. I'm excited to some of the partnerships that we're going to discuss today, some leadership examples that you may have to share with our viewers. And then also some ideas about partnerships with industry and with universities, and particularly Hytrol and A State. I feel co with you.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it sounds great. We got a lot of uh things that are working to do. We got to discuss.
SPEAKER_03We got a lot of good things happening.
SPEAKER_01That's we really do.
SPEAKER_03Yeah.
A-State Memories And Mentor Professors
SPEAKER_03All right, let's go ahead and start early with um, let's just start a little bit with some of your memories uh about A-State and when you were here and how some of those shaped your 20 plus years of career at Hytrol.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. So um, you know, when when you reached out and and wanted to talk about this, it was important for me to talk about my time here at A State as a student. Um, you know, an undergrad here at Arkansas State, uh, started actually as an engineer, um, but decided that maybe business was a better track. And so I got the opportunity to move over to College of Business. It wasn't the Neil Griffin College of Business at that point, but it is now. Um, and uh the experience that I had there was really, really good. The professors stood out to me. You know, I keep in touch with at least three of them now. Um and uh, you know, it was something that I knew um they not only cared about the curriculum, but they cared about me as uh an individual. They helped me understand maybe where to correct myself and be a little more professional because I was a uh you know, undergrad, you know. So giving me the opportunity to be a professional um and know what professionalism looks like. Um, but you know, one of the other things was is getting involved. And you'll hear that throughout the things that we talk about, I'm sure. But being involved, um, taking initiative was something that I wanted to do. And so it wasn't shortly after I started at A State that I joined a fraternity. Um so I was a Lambda Chi Alpha here on campus.
SPEAKER_03And um leader in that organization, right?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, yeah. I got I got involved because I wanted to make an impact. So uh started with uh Rush Chairman. So um I got to bring in some some uh young men who uh made an impact on the uh organization. Uh actually served in that role for two years and then uh decided to um look bigger and uh actually got the opportunity to be president. Um and you know, it while it was a uh uh a challenging job, um it it gives you real-world experience that you're not gonna get if you're just on campus and you're not plugged in with some sort of organization. So whether it be a fraternity or some on-campus organization, you know, it's an opportunity for you to see the opportunity. It's an opportunity for you to see the chance to make an impact, but then also use that as you transition into the workforce.
SPEAKER_03Absolutely. You said two things that I'd like to maybe have you expand on. You said your professors knew you and then they took an opportunity to talk to you a little bit more about professionalism. I mean, one of the things I think is really important is that professors do have that relationship with the students. I know that in my case, I've had the most impact on somebody when I can have those one-on-one relationships, right? And then the second thing you said was like really getting involved in other things that are outside of class. Because so much of the time we think college is just what happens in class, but it's also really what you learn outside of class, too, to help you transition into an adult, into an elite.
SPEAKER_01So um, if I look at the first part of that, and I talk about the professors, right? You know, the the size of our classes were such that you didn't have to worry about um not getting to meet your professor or know your professor on a prof personal level. Right. But um I think that's so important to continue. I do it is, you know, being able to know your professor on a personal level is important, being able to reach them in a way that or being able to talk to them in a way that doesn't feel like you have to figure it out, that you can just come to them naturally and honestly. Uh, but then also knowing that they're gonna pour into you and they're gonna invest in you as a student, right? Um, and maybe give you a little constructive criticism here or there, but understanding that they want your best interest and knowing that I've kept uh in touch with um at least three of them regularly over the decades is is a testament to the fact that they really did want me to be successful. Yes. And they they like to follow my success.
SPEAKER_03And you can tell this professors that care and that are invested in you pretty quickly, can't you?
SPEAKER_01You definitely can. You know, um, you know, one of my business professors, um she actually um would refer to me as her favorite student. And, you know, the the thing about it is is that's not really one of those uh teacher's pet scenarios. Right. She actually was my favorite professor too. So you know, it was a shared um feeling that um we built over the course of one one or two classes, you know, and it wasn't like I had her for everything, right? It was uh it was something that um she saw that I wanted to be good, and then she also wanted me to be good and and met me in a way that um you know spoke to who I was. Sure.
Leadership Through Campus Involvement
SPEAKER_01It was good.
SPEAKER_03And how about the outside of class learning and the things in your fraternity and other places too, and how important you think those extracurricular activities are?
SPEAKER_01Well, you know, if if it wouldn't if it wouldn't have been for if it wouldn't have been for the fraternity, you know, it would have been hard to really connect everywhere on campus. Right. But because of the fact that I had an organization that helped me understand that there was more to it than just class, right? It made it, it made it a uh it made it an experience on campus that you're just not gonna get everywhere else. So you had some when you went to the football games, you had a group to sit with. When you went to class, you had somebody. When you're walking across campus, you knew who they were.
SPEAKER_02Right.
SPEAKER_01In addition to that, you had um alumni who were plugging into you. So you knew people in the community who had already been through building their works and connections already. That's right. You you had people that you knew that you could start as soon as you graduated, you could say, Oh, not only do I knew, not only did I know the people on campus, but I know these five people, and I'm gonna reach out to them to see what it looks like as I transition in the workforce.
SPEAKER_03That's fantastic. Why don't you let's transition
What Hytrol Builds And Why
SPEAKER_03a little bit? Why don't you tell us a little bit about Hytrol and where Hytrol's going, what you see coming on Hytrol's radar right now?
SPEAKER_01Sure. Um, so uh I've worked at Hytrol for 27 years now. Congratulations. Thank you very much. I appreciate that. Uh, been around the business my entire life. Um, you know, we create material handling technology and relationships that move the world. Yes. Ultimately, the way we do that, or the way our guys um in the factory would say that, you know, the way that really translates is we make conveyor and conveying systems for companies all over the world. A lot of companies that everybody that's listening to this would know, and a lot of companies that those same people would see as brands that they love. So that's all happening here in Jonesboro and in Fort Smith.
SPEAKER_02Yes.
SPEAKER_01Um, but we are getting the opportunity to uh help customers make package and ship products to uh businesses and customers all over the world. You know, the way I make it relevant for the individual who says, why do I care about conveyor? Is I I ask them, when's the last time you ordered something online? Right. And most every one of them says within the next day. Today, yeah. And I say, from the minute you hit click on that order until it shows up at your door, uh, we're involved in about 75% of that process. Wow, 75%. The equipment we make is involved in about 75% of making that happen. And so that's fantastic. Um, you know, it it makes it a lot bigger than just showing up and designing conveyor and and producing the conveyor every day, which is what we do, but we do it with a purpose that's much bigger. You know, it's about getting that ball glove to that young gentleman who's or yeah, getting that ball glove to that kid who's wanting to go play baseball or softball. Right. Yeah, exactly.
SPEAKER_03You're making dreams come true there, right?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, you know, I mean, it's not just about the the conveyor, it's about what that conveyor brings to you to make your quality of life better, actually.
SPEAKER_03So when you're a leader, sometimes you have to make decisions that maybe in the short run don't necessarily move a needle dramatically, but in the long run, they really do. Are there things that you find a high troll you all do that, hey, for the short term, we know this is gonna take some investment and some time and some energy, but we know it'll pay off in the long term?
SPEAKER_01So um, yeah, there's lots of those. Uh, you know, and and and and as a company, as a privately held company, um, we look at the things that are are important to the business long term. Um, you know, one example of that is when we when we went over to Fort Smith, we could have sized our paint system to the business that we had at that point or the business that we were going to have in the next five years. Right. But we knew that there was uh strategic importance to that. Right. And so we replicated the same exact system that we had in Jonesboro with the lessons learned. We we wanted to incorporate the things that we learned uh that we wished we had done better the first time.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01But we put that in, and um, you know, we didn't fully take advantage of that entire system until just recently with a second shift, uh, because we knew that it was something that we were putting in strategically, not tactically.
SPEAKER_03Right. And you invest a lot of time and energy into your employees as well. You talk a little bit about that. Sure.
Training People Through DRIVE And CREST
SPEAKER_01The um the development of our employees is where we're we're really um making sure that we don't just focus on the equipment or the the facilities. Um, if we're not investing in our people, right, they're not going to see us as a long-term um employer of choice. We want them to understand that they're a part of the High Troll family, that they get the opportunity to grow, whether it be in um within our Drive Academy. So our Drive Academy is our internal training and development program. Okay. Drive actually is an acronym. So it's a couple things for us. So sure. We have drives on our conveyor. So it was a way to make a play on what we actually produce. Right. Um, DRIVE is something that you want in every one of your employees, right? Right. I mean, everybody wants uh somebody who's got some drive, some initiative. Um, but DRIVE is actually an acronym that stands for develop, retain, improve, value, and engage. Did I get all those right? Yeah, yeah. It's fantastic. Yeah. So um, but those are action words, those are verbs that we want to make sure that we're doing. So, you know, a few of them are for the employee, a few of them are for the company, but ultimately together, Drive Acronym focuses on what we want to do to invest. Um we develop some of those programs internally with our training and development program, but we also look to partner with resources that are already doing those things. You know, we've done that with some programs uh locally. Um, you know, as we continue to move forward, those programs, those programs will um, you know, as we continue to move forward, those programs will fall under Crest. And we are ultimately very excited about that. Actually, I say that. Crest is actually already up and running. People don't know that because they don't see the physical building, but um the the program is already uh helping Hytrol continue to grow their capacity in investing in training and development. Um the building itself, which um I I couldn't be more excited for uh and thankful for a state's um support there. The ASU system trustees that uh uh gave the green light to that building uh just recently really shows that that they see the value in what Crest can be. And the the building uh will be a symbol of um you know hope for this program and hope for the future of the pipeline, both into the workforce, but also into a state as well. So um, you know, we see the programs as being something where we can get in and help understand what is what the industry need locally. Um, what do the employees need to feel valued and to feel like they can make an impact?
SPEAKER_02Right.
SPEAKER_01Um, whether it be coming straight out of high school, you can go into this program and whether you get a certificate of proficiency or you get a technical certificate, or you decide you want to get the associate's degree, you can go into the workforce and you can make an impact immediately. Right. You can then upskill through micro-credentialing. Right. And we we know that we will be a part of helping um the people that are developing that curriculum.
SPEAKER_02Right.
SPEAKER_01But we also want to make sure that we're making an impact on being able to produce the physical space because in our industry, people don't know exactly what it looks like to be successful in a manufacturing facility in 2026. Right. And so sometimes it's helping the parents understand that they're um that their children can come in and grow immediately out of high school or after they get a four-year degree, they can come in and be wildly successful and grow within that. We've gotten people who've started on our production floor and they have worked their way up through our training and development programs to vice president, to director, and they're making an impact and leading and establishing what Hydro is going to be for the next decade.
SPEAKER_03Right. Uh CREST is also an acronym. Let's see if I can do it. So it's career readiness education and skills training. That's right. And uh, and you've been an integral partner in that, and we really appreciate all
Skills Employers Need Right Now
SPEAKER_03that.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_03One of the things that we're seeing a lot with the the students that are coming through now, particularly the ones that have really gone through COVID during middle school or in high school, they're the the needs that are different from an educational standpoint. But are you seeing their needs, this kind of changes in your incoming workforce that you have to address or develop?
SPEAKER_01So when you talk about what an employer looks for in somebody coming into the workforce, right? Um, you know, we could go down a list of technical skills. And, you know, for us, it's about um understanding how to read a tape measure and look at a drawing, um, being able to understand the critical components of being able to do those different jobs, right? Um, do them well. Right. Um the other thing though is is, and this would apply to not only the people who are coming in on the front line, but our engineers who are graduating from Arkansas State and coming into our design group, um, uh and even the ones that are um helping us in the technology center. Right. But being able to problem solve, have critical thinking skills, use some of those uh tools to be able to determine what it looks like today. Because right now, there are so many tools out there that can shortcut what you're doing. In order to make sure that you can take advantage of those, you've got to be able to know are they giving me the right answer? Right. The only way you get that is through being able to work through um programs that are developed to give you that gut feel as to whether or not that tool is producing the right answer. Right. Um, and you know what, you can turn around and use those tools to grow your capacity as an individual. But if you don't have the drive, if you're not taking the initiative, if you're not learning how to engage with um people in the workforce, it's gonna be extremely hard for you to be successful um at the level that most people want to do. They want they don't a lot of people want to come in, they don't mind starting at at a at a ground level, but they they do want to get to that leadership level. And they do want to get to that level, two or three um rungs up. And in order to do that, you've got to understand how to interact with people. You've got to understand how to get your work done through others and with others. And those are the types of skills that programs are needing to continue to improve on. And, you know, I know that we've talked about making sure that we design um crest to have some of those skills to set up the environment to where when you go into uh a workforce, whether it be at high troll or somewhere else, you know, selfishly I want it to be high troll. Right, exactly. But um, you know, when you come into high troll, it's not I want to I have to now learn the environment at high troll. It's hey, you know what, we did that at Crest. You know what? They set this up for for that. Right. We were able to learn all those things as we were learning the technical skills. And those students are gonna be so much further ahead of the curve than anybody who comes into the workforce without that training.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, one of the things that we've been trying to be very intentional about is not just saying, okay, here's somebody with a degree or here's somebody who's passed a certain curriculum, right? But we've been trying to sit down with industries and saying, hey, what are the gaps that you still need once they've graduated? And can you tell us where we would fill that in so that we can make sure that that student when they leave is ready to succeed wherever they would start. That's right. Um, and I don't know if you could talk a little bit about maybe how that's worked. I mean, because I mean, uh when we go to industries and say, hey, what is it that you need? It's kind of really coming from a very different educational place than we've typically in higher education been, where we've said, okay, here's what the accreditation board says we have to have. And so we keep that in there, but then going and saying, okay, what is it that you really need is a very different framework for most of higher education.
SPEAKER_01The way I would say that is the experience that I've had is that it's not a one-and-done conversation. Right. It it's it's it's something where um both sides of the of the partnership. Yeah, the the the different sides of the partnership are working together to understand exactly what the other person is communicating. Um because to your point, in academia versus um, you know, the workforce, it's a little bit different. And so when you ask us what we need, we may give you something and you may say, well, I don't how does that translate into what I provide? And so then it's understanding how to break that down and say, okay, how do we deliver those things? How do we make sure that we design that into the curriculum? But it starts with a willing um group of leaders. Um and if they're not um if they're not focused on the vision of where this program can go, then they're gonna be short-sighted because they're gonna think about how do we make sure that we take advantage of that right now. And you know what? Sometimes, just like Chris, we can do both. We can we can build the program and then build the building that supports the program that's already built. And and in a lot of ways, you're gonna get up and go in a lot faster with that. Right.
SPEAKER_03I think that that is, you know, crucial. That I think a lot of higher education is focused on the curriculum that they deliver. Um, and then they pass a student on to a workforce or their first job or their career, but then they're not engaged in that partnership and that relationship, understanding, hey, what is it that you're really needing that we're not providing, or what is it that we could change on our end that maybe really sets that student up to succeed? Yeah. Um, and I so I think I just want to agree with you that that partnership is really crucial. Um, if there was an industry that, you know, wanted to become a part of a state or engage in something like that, what do you recommend that they do as their first steps?
SPEAKER_01You know, well, first off, I mean, you have been uh instrumental in making sure that you're um engaging with us. And so uh what I would say is, is you're not um inaccessible. You know, as the chancellor, you're making sure that you're um demonstrating the leadership to put these things in place, but you're inviting us to the table. Right. So um I would be surprised if most of the other industries that we're talking to haven't at least at some point been invited to the table. Make sure that you show up to the conversation and understand what it is, but then understand that this is a little bit different than what's been done in the past. It's something that will truly be transformation. And the earlier you get involved, the better the results are going to be for you. At least that's the way we see it. You know, the the fact that we know, um, having sat down with you and several of the other leaders uh that are involved in helping us move forward with this, that the way we're gonna influence the um the curriculum has the opportunity to benefit us as a company, right? But we don't do it that way. We do it because we know that when you invest locally, I mean, Crest is about advanced manufacturing, it's about food processing, which we have a lot of companies in Jones Girl that fit within that um within that lane. Yep. Uh, and then um steel, yeah, you know, um, and Northeast Arkansas is known for that. Yeah, we've got a large contingent of of um companies that support that as well. And so if you see this as an opportunity to get in uh at this point, you could really be influential and you could really influence the the different ways that your employees need to learn. And the good part about that is is I don't have to be, I don't have to be somebody who's cautious in what I say, because a lot of those skills are going to translate regardless of what the industry is. It's not like something where it's all so niche that um it's not it's not. This will work here, but not there. Yeah, what it translates. So, you know, the majority of what it is will translate. You know, the fact that um, you know, the group that we worked with as we were putting these plans together, um they all want it to grow and be successful collectively. And this is not about the hydro portion, this is about the entire group. Right. You know, it's supported well from the state. Um, they see the vision. They obviously know that we have the ability to be successful with it. Right. Um, but it's about being intentional because you could go and you could say, you know, we're gonna we're gonna be short-sighted with the building. We're only gonna put in the bare minimum. Yeah, we're not gonna put it in a prime location. Right. Um, the things that manufacturers need, we need people to be able to look at a building and say, I could see my son or my daughter working in a facility that is trained in that facility. Exactly. And you know what? Chris is gonna be that.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, and I think so it will. You know, I really feel that like this is something that higher education should have been doing all along, even if they haven't been, if we haven't been. Um, but I really feel like right now, particularly in this stage in 2026, you know, things are changing so rapidly in robotics and in artificial intelligence and cybersecurity, those types of things, they're gonna change again in six months. I mean, things that weren't available a year ago or six months ago are available to us now. So it's a constantly evolving. So I feel like, and you can tell me if you agree, um, that that interaction with higher education and industry, I think right now is kind of at an inflection point. It's more important now, always been important, but is really important now. I don't know if you agree with that or not.
SPEAKER_01You know, I I would I would say that I completely agree with you because the the need for developing. So if you wanted to get involved with um a program like this and you wanted to specifically do it with Crest, you know, talked about the fact that you it's not a one and done conversation to understand what you need to provide, right? What we need to be able to provide you to understand what those needs are. It's not one and done once the program, once you've established that you're gonna be a partner, right? It's an ongoing investment of time and energy to make sure that we understand how it goes. We know kind of a little bit of where we want it to move, but even those things are gonna change. And so if we're not plugged in, if we're not making sure that we're designing structure around it and ways that we can engage that you understand, ways that you need to engage that we understand, um, it won't be successful. And we won't know how to plug back in regularly enough or consistently enough to be able to make it a program that is something that wasn't, oh, well, why did we start that? Yeah. Because this is this is data, you know, right? We can't afford for it to be data.
SPEAKER_03Right, right. Well, we're designing this and intentionally and strategically so that we change students and their families' lives. So impacting them and their family for generations is what we're trying
Automation AI And Micro-Credentials
SPEAKER_03to do. That's right. I mean, from a from an industry standpoint, you I'm sure see technology and and advances in robotics and artificial intelligence changing your company and how you do business all the time too. How do you keep up with that kind of change?
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it's it's difficult. If I if I had that, if I if I had the real answer to that question, I don't know that we would be sitting talking to each other. That's true. That's probably, you know, I would be doing something different. That's true. But um the the way you keep up is that you know, we're in the automation business. So uh we understand that the population is not necessarily growing at the rate that supports uh continued growth for jobs and such. We know that automation is going to be important. It benefits us as an employer because people will need conveyor. Yeah. But the conveyor that they need today won't be the same conveyor that they need even five years from now. Right. It will be conveyor that's smart, it will be conveyor that is um maintained in a way that requires um somebody who is different than the maintenance person of five years ago. You know, um, hopefully uh it'll be you know similar to that commercial we all know where the um where the elevator called the repair man themselves and showed up and was like, I'm here to fix the elevator. Who called you? Yeah, the elevator did, right? That's great. And so if we have equipment that's doing that, and all plants are gonna end up with that, and all facilities, honestly, right, are gonna have that. How do we make sure that we're preparing those people who are gonna be the different support services, the different uh design engineers, the different technicians that are producing those things, maintaining those things, and being a part of building them out because you know what? There's no reason why those people can't come from Northeast Arkansas.
SPEAKER_03Absolutely. So, you know, one of the things that we're doing at A State is really looking at our curriculum and saying, hey, what are the essential durable skills that students need, not that would not traditionally in the curriculum, like reading, writing, math, and science, but what other things that they need to have? And then also saying, okay, technology is changing a lot. And whether you're a physical therapist or an engineer or accountant, there are gonna be a lot of changes that we want to make sure that you have. So, you know, we're putting certificates and we're putting credentials into those curriculums as well for whatever majors they are, and we'll make sure that they're involved with CREST as well. But we have the same issue of like making sure that we're keeping up with the technology and making sure that those skill sets and those chain changes are happening with the students as they're happening in real life, too. That's a difficult thing. But again, it goes back to your point about the partnership. If we don't have that constant conversation about what we're seeing on our end, what you're seeing, then we're not gonna be changing together and we'll have a mismatch.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, definitely. The other thing about that is being able to understand how to take advantage of micro-credentialing gives us the ability to not have to wait for a total course revamp, right? It's like, hey, I don't need to revamp the course, I just need to be able to take advantage of this small thing, and it needs to happen now, right? You know, um, if we do, if we don't put that in now, it's gonna be um irrelevant by the time we rebuild that course. And you know, um, while I didn't do it at Arkansas State, got my MBA on uh in an online program that was very rigorous, it provided uh an outcome for me that um was top-notch. And so, you know, knowing that those things are possible, we've got to be able to take advantage of those things. And I know that A State's got a great MBA program, uh, a great online MBA program as well. So um, and and while we don't want to shift the focus from being on campus, I'm a big on-campus experience person. And I and I know one of the things that I wanted to make sure I said was how much I appreciated your passion and your energy and your effort to make sure that the on-campus experience at A-State is continuing to grow and to continue to be something that students want to do. And I can see the impact of that and I appreciate that.
SPEAKER_03Well, when we talk to parents, we know that we're saying, hey, trust us with your most valued possession, you know, your kids, and trust us that they'll be safe, that they'll be cared for, that professors, like you said, will know who they are and will invest in them, and that our curriculum is going to be informed by industry so that when they are leaving, they'll hopefully have already had an internship, they'll hopefully have the credentials that are continually changing. Um, and then when they leave, again, they're successful, but as technology changes, that we're updating things too, we're finding that a lot of the micro-credentials that we're offering, the average age is 26 to 30. And then sometimes the degree programs are the average age is 30. So somebody's in the career going, hey, you know what? I see an advancement opportunity. I don't have time because I've got a family and I've got a mortgage and I've got a career, but I've got time to get another credential or another technical certificate or another degree, and I can do that, and they're coming back. So we're seeing that we want to continue doing what we've always done with the 18 to 22-year-old students that are here on campus, preparing them for success, but then also making sure that we're ready to help them continue with lifelong learning. That's right. So that they're continue to be successful throughout their career when we know the world is changing rapidly all around them.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, definitely. Lifelong learning is something that you will hear from uh almost every single person that you meet who's successful and that that uh gives you that immediate impact of how I'm I'm really impressed with this uh this woman or this man. Right. You know, this this person is extremely impressive. Right. Most of the time, they're gonna be people who desire and who value lifelong learning.
SPEAKER_03So if you were to give somebody, if you're giving an 18-year-old or somebody about to graduate, maybe a 22-year-old, some advice, um, is that one of the things you'd tell them just to keep on learning throughout your career, or would there be other things you'd advise too?
Internship Advice That Changes Careers
SPEAKER_01So um one of the things that I would say, um, and and I touched on it earlier, is get involved. Um make sure, make sure that you're getting involved in whatever you're doing. But the other thing is that it doesn't stop when you graduate. You know, um, as a matter of fact, if you're a junior or a senior, and I'm only using that because that's how our programs are, right? Um, you can get involved in summer internship programs that'll make the difference in your uh connections, your network, your contacts. Right. Um the problem with that though is that most people think, oh, spring break's here. I need to start thinking about a summer internship program. Well, I can speak specifically to our program. If you're not applying in October, November, or December, when the applications open up, you're not getting the premium access to the opportunities. Our program, we receive well over uh 200 applications every single year for 14 internship positions. Right. Those internships that we do, um, they're as well-rounded as any internship out there. And we've got lots of different uh students who come back and tell us that.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_01And they not only get the opportunity to participate in a project with a mentor, they get to present that project to the president and the C-suite. That's great. They get to answer questions. Now they have to answer questions. Yeah, they have to answer the question. They can't just go up and flip through the slides. Some people love the presentation and do really well. Some people um stress about those uh presentations. Sure. But in the end, they're all better off because of it. In addition to that, we take them around both communities, Jonesboro and Fort Smith, and we give them professional development from those same leaders that are challenging them. So they're not getting asked questions by people they haven't met. Right. As a matter of fact, they've probably interacted with them multiple times. Right. And they have the ability to leave that. Now I'm gonna tell you, we want them to come and they leave with an with a job offer from Hyper. And a lot of cases we have that. And you know what? Some of our best um A state grads come through our internship program. And I know we've got several that uh I could mention right now that are very impressive. Right. Um, they represent the school well, but they represent Hydro well out in the industry. And it's the ability to come in and learn who we are, right? It's similar to what we talk about when you uh are working in a uh a program that provides that same environment. If you're in an internship that has that same environment, you're getting to meet those people and you say, hey, you know what? I kind of think this company's cool. I'm I'm gonna join this company. I want to be down at the tech center um designing conveyor. Um, I'd love to stay in Jonesboro. Right. I see all the great things that are going on around campus and around town. Uh, I want to, I want to be able to do that. I want to stay in this city and make an impact for the people who built the the things that I'm enjoying now. Um the students who do that are gonna be wildly successful. You're gonna call them leaders, is what you're gonna call them. Right.
Cybersecurity Threats And Practical Defenses
SPEAKER_03One of the things that we're doing on campus that you may know about, but we're putting together, we've got a very strong cybersecurity program already. But one of the things we're doing is we're putting together a student-led cybersecurity group that works alongside the people that are providing cybersecurity to the campus and to the ASU system generally. Um, and then we're really giving them direct experience in that. And they're really learning not just the you know, how-to from the textbook, but then how to right there on the job. Um, and are you seeing a lot more need and worry, concern about cybersecurity in your industry?
SPEAKER_01You know, um uh I think that's probably the biggest softball that you've tossed me today. So, you know, cybersecurity, you you can't you can't emphasize it enough. Um, and you know, it it takes shape in so many different ways that you know the average person probably doesn't even realize all the different layers that go into keeping them safe at a in a workforce, keeping their identity safe at home, right, you know, and so yeah, I I think I think it's going to be something that continues to amplify its um need across all industries. Right. And if we have a program here that's not only protecting our campus and our um different uh employees across the system, right, uh, but we're also allowing our students to be a part of that. Right. Um, and to get that real world experience alongside that, right? It it only makes them a better resource as they go in to help companies like us to be successful because cybersecurity has to be at the top of your list of things to consider.
SPEAKER_03It is with us too. I was surprised when I heard that there are a hundred different hits, at least on a slow day of attacks in some form or another that we have to be prepared for. Yeah. Um, and that's just like within one campus. And if you add the other seven that are in the system, you've got thousands of attacks really happening every day. And I'm sure that's going to be the same thing as particularly as more things become driven by computers and automation, the opportunities for people that have malintent or ill will to do something that disrupts the process and disrupts the productivity, it just opens up those opportunities even more.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. You know, the um we had a speaker um at one of our events talk about cybersecurity, and they spoke to a lot of companies that we would recognize that were um, you know, vulnerable. Right. And they're vulnerable in ways that are not super complicated. Right. And so in a lot of ways, there are things that we can do to protect ourselves um to make sure that we're not opening the door and allowing um somebody to come in and um and compromise your system. Right. The the way that we um help our employees do that is through training, is through communication, through all of our, you know, we have an employee app uh called Convey. Yeah. You know, we'll play on words there. Like that. Yeah. Um, but we we put out information, we give training, we teach our employees ways to protect themselves uh at home as well as uh throughout the business. Right. And I will tell you, there are ways that those trainings have translated to us being on um uh you know better alert for uh different phishing attacks and things of that nature. Right. You know, I don't know if you get them, but I'll get messages from leaders within the company that are not really messages from leaders in the company asking us to go buy gift cards or do things that are, you know, the It wasn't too long ago that everybody on campus got an email from me. Yeah, right. Right. It wasn't from me. The thing about it is is you know, some of it uh requires common sense, but you know, the the the complicated schemes out there today are getting more and more um they're getting more and more sophisticated, right? But they're with the with the um uh prolific pro with AI becoming more and more accessible and understandable by everybody, right? It gives the amount of um of those types of attacks to be things that would overwhelm you um if you weren't um built and or designing your system to be able to understand how to how to deal with it.
SPEAKER_03We're putting AI through a lot of our in the backside of campus too. So scheduling, uh for example, registering and then even applying and being admitted. Um and scheduling in particular, we're trying to make sure that it's efficient for the students, but it's also we're using it so that, okay, if we can put everybody into one area and we know that they're all there, not only are we keeping them safe so we know where they are, but then we can say, okay, well, look, there aren't anybody, there's anybody in the class in this building, we can control the temperature and save somebody over there and put that back into their education. That real made us realize that the Wi-Fi connections for the HVAC systems were an opportunity for people to jump into that. We were like, Oh, we didn't even I didn't even think of that. But the cyber security folks were like, we're gonna have to protect these as well. So we're thinking, oh wow, we're gonna have to protect this the HVAC systems. Yeah, that's right. And things like that that I would not even just I mean, they're easy to do, like you said, but then maybe not as obvious as I would have thought they might be.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I think the um the connectivity of devices, so the internet of things, right, right, um, yeah, they're they're all opportunities for vulnerabilities. If your system, if your team is not making sure that they have a plan to um address all those things, right, you're gonna learn the hard way. Yeah. And and you'd much rather learn it that way, right? Right. The um the uh the use of AI can save you a lot of money and a lot of time as long as you know how to use it properly, how to make sure that you're using it to teach yourself how to get better. Right. You know, I want to make sure that as I continue to leverage those tools, that I'm not allowing it to replace my um ability to know what's right and what's wrong, right? How to how to do those things. It's it's right now it's about saving time, it's about understanding the level of complexity. Right. Um, you know, I don't know how many emails you get a day, but I get a lot of them. I would imagine you probably get yeah. And and so just that um instance alone tells us how much our capacity is eaten up with all the different things that come our way. Right. How do we take advantage of that in a way that doesn't compromise learning, doesn't compromise our professionalism, doesn't replace us.
SPEAKER_02Right.
SPEAKER_01You know, we had a vistage speaker the other day come in, actually two. It was a father-son combo, and one of them was old school. The father was old school and he was printed out paper. He wanted to show you the handbook, he wanted to tell you why his son was AI, and the presentation was about leadership today, can't be either or. It can't be one or the other. It's got to be able to take advantage of how do we leverage the tools, right? But how do we also know how to properly uh engage with those. Tools and use them, right? If you're just copying and pasting, then you're not doing anything that anybody could do. Right. But if you're taking them and you're allowing them to help you improve the value of what you bring individually or what your organizing organization brings, then you can really make an impact. Right.
Northeast Arkansas Opportunities And Growth
SPEAKER_03I'm very excited about a lot of the opportunities that I see in Northeast Arkansas and Arkansas generally and with A State too. I see so many opportunities that I'm really excited about them. I wonder if you could uh comment on what you see as some of the big opportunities in Northeast Arkansas and with A State.
SPEAKER_01You know, um one of the things is with A State right now, it's really easy for me to answer your question in a positive way. Um but also with our uh area in Northeast Arkansas, specifically Jonesboro, you know, I serve on the connectivity committee and we talk about walkability, we talk about being able to ride bikes around the community. We we constantly hear people say, Well, I went here or I went there and I saw that. And well, it would be great if I had that in Jonesboro. Well, you do. You're getting more and more of it. What I would say though is that A State leads the way in setting the example for bike ability. You know, um, uh one of my favorite places to ride that's not out on the road, um, you know, and I try to do it in a safe manner. I it's out oftentimes on uh gravel roads on a gravel bike. But when I'm riding um on paths, you know, when I get to A State, I feel I feel like they've done it right. They've got the the dedicated lanes, and you often see people running, you know, and and taking advantage of those. But you can you can go all over campus and be either in a bike lane or on a path. Right. And, you know, the the good thing is is that five years ago that wasn't happening in our city, but now we're taking and putting together a comprehensive plan to make that connection happen, and you're seeing those things pop up. And so being able to provide the different things that we hear our um community members saying that they want right quality of life kind of things, quality of life. You know, the other thing is that we've enjoyed uh seeing the success of our uh sports programs here at Arkansas State. You know, I mean great. The there, I could I I'm not gonna mention them by by by name because I would miss one of them and and they would say, hey, how come you didn't mention this program? But if you're not getting involved, um, number one, the uh the level of investment to have season tickets is not is it's not it's not super impactful. I mean, you can get involved in any of the programs and have seats and and enjoy great entertainment. And the the level of coaches that we have here right now. I mean, they are top notch. And you know, I appreciate the personal connection I have with each one of them as well. You know, I you know, when I walk up to any of them, they know me by name, they they're extremely appreciative of the support that we give. Right. Um, and it's not just the support from Hytrel. You know, I would say if you're a company in town and you're not investing and and taking the opportunity to leverage the success of the sports programs out here at Arkansas State, then you're missing the boat. Right. Um, but if you're not also turning around, I mean, one of the things that we do, you you know this. We've worked with Alpha Pack. Yes. And we see it.
SPEAKER_03Thank you for that too, by the way.
SPEAKER_01We we love it. We see it as a way to um give a benefit to our uh employees in Jonesboro. Right. And also have the opportunity to interact with them in a special way at an event that is just top-notch. And you know, we got several leaders in the community that help put those things on in addition to A-State and the support from High Troll. But we we love taking advantage of that. Whenever we can do things like that, we know that we're leveraging and producing a flywheel effect for the overall ecosystem. You know, we've got to continue to get involved with making a difference. If you see something in Northeast Arkansas outside of A-State's campus and the sports programs that you want to improve, there's likely leaders already working on it or welcoming other people to jump in and make an impact. And, you know, we're gonna grow this community. We're gonna continue to have um events. I mean, you know, one of the things I'm excited about that's coming up here at the end of May is the skirmish bike race that we sponsor. Right. Um, it it's it's something that we started last year. It was a great event, had 200 people, and you know, we had 14, I believe it was 14 different states represented.
SPEAKER_03That's fantastic.
SPEAKER_01And a lot of the people from those different communities said, right, we're coming back. Yeah, that's cool. And they get to see, they get to see our campus. Right. We have the um, I think we have the trolleys going back and forth from the embassy suites to downtown, yeah, making that connection to the different cool spots in Jonesboro. And, you know, the thing is, is you're gonna find what you want to find. And if you want to find something cool in Jonesboro and in Northeast Arkansas, they're there to find. Those opportunities are there to find. Absolutely. It's about making sure that you participate with your feet, yeah, making sure that you participate with your investments where possible. Right. If you're doing those things, then you're gonna see the impact that you're making. You're gonna enjoy it, and then you're gonna create an area that's going to thrive, it's gonna continue to grow, and it's gonna be there for our kids and grandkids that we want to come back here and stay here. Absolutely right.
SPEAKER_03Totally
Final Thanks And Subscribe Reminder
SPEAKER_03agree. Thank you for everything that you're doing. Thank you for being invested in A State and Northeast Arkansas. Thanks for everything the High Troll is doing, and thanks for what you're doing particularly. Thank you so much. And thanks for joining us today, too. Thanks, Todd. I appreciate it. Yeah, I appreciate it. And so please uh don't forget to subscribe to the webpage because that's where all of our content is located. Um, and you can find this show and several other shows there. Um, we're looking forward to additional ones coming up very soon. Thanks very much again, Phil, for being here today and everyone have a wonderful day. Thanks. Appreciate it.