Certification Prep for Greene County's Factory and Plant Crews

The plants behind the work

American Railcar Industries has built railcars in Paragould for years; a 2004 announcement of a third production line was expected to bring its county employment to roughly 1,100, and later projects added a paint shop and a Marmaduke facility. A 2016 report still listed ARI among the two largest employers in the county. Tenneco's Paragould plant, which builds shock absorbers, employed about 1,200 people in that same report.

Anchor Packaging operates production and distribution space in Paragould, Marmaduke and Jonesboro and broke ground on a 90,000-square-foot, $21.5 million expansion of its Paragould plant. Utility Trailer also announced a Paragould expansion in 2012. Headcounts and owners change, so treat these as a picture of the industrial base rather than current hiring numbers — and remember we don't speak for any of these companies.

Why plant work needs riggers as much as operators

Inside a factory, a lot of lifting is done with overhead cranes, gantries and hoists covered by general industry rules. When an outside contractor brings a mobile crane through a roof hatch or sets new equipment during a shutdown, the construction standard and its rigger and signal person requirements usually come into play. Knowing how to rig a top-heavy press, choose spreader bars, and read a sling capacity chart is the difference between a smooth install and a damaged machine.

That is why Greene County crews often pair operator prep with Rigger Level 2 for engineered and multi-crane picks.

Railcar and trailer plants also handle long, flexible loads — frames, sidesills, tank shells — where sling placement and load deflection matter. Knowing when to add a spreader beam or a second hook is the kind of judgment that rigging certification exams try to measure.

Ridge and Delta conditions

Paragould sits on Crowley's Ridge, with flat Delta farmland on either side. The ridge drains well, but jobs out in the bottoms can turn muddy fast after spring rains, and the region sees severe thunderstorms and tornado watches every spring. Ice storms are a winter risk across northeast Arkansas, and an iced boom or wet sling changes how a lift should be planned.

Getting certified from Paragould

No Arkansas license exists for crane operators. Federal OSHA, through its Little Rock Area Office, enforces 29 CFR 1926 Subpart CC for private employers, which means national certification plus an employer evaluation. Written exams are offered by Online Proctored Testing, at test centers or at scheduled events. Jonesboro is about 25 minutes away and Memphis roughly an hour and a half, both useful when arranging practical exams through the certifying body. See our Arkansas requirements guide.