Conway County · Below Petit Jean Mountain

Morrilton Crane Certification for Mill, River and Interstate Work

Morrilton is home to what has been called the largest capital investment project in Central Arkansas history: Green Bay Packaging's expansion of its Arkansas Kraft linerboard mill, a project valued at more than $1 billion. Big paper machine projects run on cranes, from structural steel to dryer cans to the paper machine frame itself. Add a developing Arkansas River port and the I-40 corridor, and local operators, riggers and signal persons have good reason to get certified. Our self-paced online course covers the written exam material.

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Project PowerPack and the mill

Green Bay Packaging's Morrilton mill makes kraft linerboard from virgin fiber supplied partly by the company's own lumber mill. In 2025 the company publicly launched Project PowerPack, an investment of more than $1 billion at the site expected to add 35 permanent jobs on top of a regional workforce of about 620 across its five area facilities. The city lists the Arkansas Kraft mill among its major employers with roughly 400 people.

The permanent job count is modest; the construction workforce needed to get there is not. Paper machine and boiler projects bring in millwrights, ironworkers and crane crews for long stretches, with heavy picks of rolls, frames, recovery equipment and structural modules. Projects of that size often run multiple cranes at once, which puts a premium on clear signaling, lift planning and riggers who understand load weights and hardware ratings.

Barges on the McClellan-Kerr

The Arkansas River along Morrilton is part of the McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System, which carries barge traffic year-round. The Central Arkansas Intermodal Authority is developing a port area here, and the state awarded it $400,000 in Arkansas Waterways Commission grant money for road work into the new port area. Port construction and barge transfers involve crawler and hydraulic cranes on the riverbank, where sloped banks and soft alluvial soil make ground preparation a serious part of every set-up.

UACCM's surveying and petroleum programs

UACCM began in 1962 as Petit Jean Vocational-Technical School, named for the mountain that rises southwest of town. Today it offers two associate degrees found nowhere else in Arkansas: surveying and petroleum technology. Students in those programs often end up on construction and energy sites alongside crane crews, and some add a signal person or Rigger Level 1 credential to broaden what they can do on a job.

Certification requirements, plainly

There is no state crane operator license in Arkansas and no State Plan. Federal OSHA, through the Little Rock Area Office, enforces Subpart CC on private-sector construction sites in Conway County. Operators need certification from an accredited testing organization plus an employer evaluation; signal persons and riggers must be qualified for the tasks the standard lists. The full explanation is in our requirements guide.

Morrilton's location helps with exam logistics. Little Rock is about an hour southeast and Conway about half an hour away on I-40, so traveling to a scheduled written exam event or an accredited practical test site is a day trip rather than an overnight. Written exams can also be taken by online proctoring. The practical is always hands-on, on a crane.

Where to start

Questions people ask

Is Green Bay Packaging hiring through you?

No. We don't place workers or speak for any employer. The course prepares you for the written exams that many contractors on projects like this require.

Do I have to renew my certification?

NCCCO certifications are renewed every five years. Operators with 1,000 hours of crane-related experience during that period can skip the recertification practical, but the written exam still applies.

Can a contractor enroll several workers at once?

Yes, crew enrollment is available through the enrollment form.

Is the course timed or scheduled?

It is self-paced and open 24/7, so you choose when to study.

Suggested courses for this area

  • Mobile Crane Operator

    Self-paced study for the NCCCO mobile crane Core and your LAT, TLL or TSS specialty, aimed at Arkansas operators on hydros, all-terrains and crawlers.

  • Rigger Level II

    Online preparation for the NCCCO Rigger Level II written test, focused on the weight, balance-point and tension math a lead rigger needs when the load's numbers are not handed to them.

  • Signalperson

    Study for the NCCCO Signalperson written test on any device, covering standard hand signals, voice and radio communication, crane behavior and the federal OSHA rules for directing a lift.

  • Crane Recertification

    A focused refresher for Arkansas operators renewing an NCCCO mobile crane certification, covering the core and specialty written tests, the renewal timeline and the 1,000-hour practical waiver.

Neighboring areas

Start your Arkansas crane certification prep

Name the card you need (operator, rigger or signal person) and the part of Arkansas you work in. An enrollment advisor writes back with the matching course and what the exam steps look like from there.

  • Self-paced lessons that open on any device, day or night
  • Practice questions written in the style of NCCCO written tests
  • Crew enrollment for Arkansas contractors and plants

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