Russellville Facility Busy Training Tyson Leaders

With 68,000 employees before the completed acquisition of IBP Inc., Tyson Foods’ training facility in Russellville was kept busy year round.

With an additional 52,000 IBP employees joining the family, Tyson Foods spokesman Ed Nicholson said, “We don’t expect the demand [for the facility] to decrease.”

The facility, located on Arkansas Highway 333 on Lake Dardanelle, is formerly known as the Tyson Management Development Center — TMDC.

A full dedicated staff of 40 who live in the Russellville area teaches and trains at TMDC. Teachers from specialized areas of management at Tyson Foods will occasionally train at the facility.

Founded in 1983 as a sales training facility for former Tyson division Tastybird Foods, today TMDC ‘s most common objectives are conducting leadership development, professional development and sales training sessions. There are other events held at the site as requested by Tyson managers.

“The leadership training [at TMDC] is multilevel,” Nicholson said.

Most of the sessions are over a two- or three-day period. Fifty-four bedrooms and a full kitchen at TMDC allow the participants from outside the Russellville area to stay onsite throughout the session.

There are four classrooms used for the training sessions, seating from 12 to 60 people.

The Tyson Leadership College classes available such as: Tyson Culture and Values; Communication; Coaching and Balanced Scorecard; Problem Solving and Change; Leading for Inspired Performance; and Tyson Facilitator Development Network.