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Culbertson Concrete Pumping Service demonstrated the use a the concrete boom pump truck to Loyd Star students Thursday. (Hunter Cloud | The Daily Leader)

Culbertson Concrete Pumping Service demonstrated the use a the concrete boom pump truck to Loyd Star students Thursday. (Hunter Cloud | The Daily Leader)

Culbertson Concrete Pumping Service demonstrated the use a the concrete boom pump truck to Loyd Star students Thursday. (Hunter Cloud | The Daily Leader)

Culbertson Concrete Pumping Service demonstrated the use a the concrete boom pump truck to Loyd Star students Thursday. (Hunter Cloud | The Daily Leader)

Culbertson Concrete Pumping Service demonstrated the use a the concrete boom pump truck to Loyd Star students Thursday. (Hunter Cloud | The Daily Leader)

LOYD STAR — Students craned their necks and looked to the sky as a cement boom pump truck reached out across to a roadway and pumped water in a demonstration Thursday. Local business Culbertson Concrete Pumping Service partnered with Loyd Star’s career readiness program for the demonstration. 

Gregory Cole, Economic Development Liaison with Culbertson, said they were asked to talk with students about different careers in construction. The demonstration was to show how concrete is poured. 

Gabe Ezell, Culbertson’s Operations Manager, said the boom pump truck is used to pump concrete where a ready mix truck could not get to. This is helpful when dealing with multi-story buildings. 

Lorie Harrell, Loyd Star’s Career Coach, said she works in conjunction with the Central Mississippi Planning District to help students understand the opportunities in trades. All together, there were 42 students at the demonstration Thursday. 

“This is our first construction demonstration,” Harrell said. “What we do is introduce students to different career opportunities and help them with the next step of a trade, college or employment. We are building careers through partnerships so we can equip these students with in-demand skills.”

Delta Industries works with Culbertson to provide the ready mix cement needed for projects. 

Randy Bruce Prestridge, with Delta Industries, said a recipe has to be followed precisely when working with concrete or else the pump would not be able to operate as it needs to. Prestidge is a native of Lincoln County. He went to West Lincoln and started his career working in automotive sales before getting involved in concrete. 

“I’ve been a salesman for Delta since 2019. I had no idea this was a career option,” Prestidge said.

Cole said ready mix is one of the more important materials for construction. He added the efficiency of a job depends on the ready mix. 

“We wanted to expose the students to careers in construction and show them that operating cement is chemistry, a science and an art,” Cole said. “A pretty slab is a strong slab.”

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