Provalus is strengthening small-town economies by bringing IT jobs to rural America.
Rural communities are chock-full of untapped potential; Provalus knows this better than most. While the company may operate similarly to other IT and business service providers, it has a unique approach to talent acquisition. Rather than locate and draw workers from major metropolitan areas, Provalus strategically sets up shop in rural communities, developing undiscovered talent and creating hundreds of jobs.
“Most of these rural communities are very blue-collar-focused,” says Provalus Vice President of Facilities Will Ruzic. “We want to be able to provide opportunities for folks that may not be going to the lumber mill, the paper mill or any of the blue-collar jobs in these rural communities. We want to provide the opportunity for them to be able to enter into long-term, sustainable careers focused in the IT industry in their own hometown.”
Over the last six years, Provalus has grown its footprint to nine operations and counting across seven states, including Arkansas, Alabama, Kentucky, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Texas.
The company’s latest project in the community of Walnut Ridge will be Provalus’ first location in Arkansas. The site will encompass a series of four downtown buildings, spanning nearly 20,000 sq.ft., that were previously vacant. While one of the buildings is already remodeled, Provalus plans to completely transform the rest of its acquired space with new roofing, HVAC, electricity and plumbing.
“Expanding into Arkansas is a milestone moment for Provalus as we continue our mission to bring transformative opportunities to rural America,” said Mike Keogh, president of Provalus, in August. “This new site will allow us to tap into the incredible talent that Arkansas has to offer, creating jobs that will drive both local and regional economic growth. We are committed to investing in the community and are excited to see how our presence here will foster innovation and development.”
“You know, I think primarily it’s really about leadership and quality of life in these communities, and Walnut Ridge really checked all those boxes for us.”
— Will Ruzic, Vice President of Facilities, Provalus
Why Walnut Ridge?
Ruzic claims that alongside Walnut Ridge’s rural location, three additional factors played a significant role in Provalus’ decision to expand there.
“You know, I think primarily it’s really about leadership and quality of life in these communities, and Walnut Rudge really checked all those boxes for us,” he explains. “We are going into these communities and want to work with them to address challenges in rural America. To do that, we look for strong partnerships, which means we look for strong leadership.”
As this project is anticipated to create approximately 200 new cybersecurity and application development jobs, education and workforce development opportunities were also among Walnut Ridge’s strongest selling points. Ruzic says Provalus has already started conversations with local educational institutions on ways to acquire and train the workers they need.
“Obviously, local high schools are a tremendous source for us. There’s a four-year college there. So those are all going to be partnerships in our recruiting efforts. As you can imagine, we’re not going into these communities and saying, ‘Give us your IT talent.’ We know we have to develop that IT talent, so we have our own internal training programs. All we need is an aptitude and desire, and we’re going to take the reins, we’re going to train you, we’re going to give you that foundational knowledge to come into our organization and, more importantly, be able to grow your career.”
By partnering with this network of local education and workforce development leaders, Provalus aims to establish an apprenticeship program that is accessible to residents of the region.
“We want to give everybody a pathway to success,” says Ruzic. “We want those young folks that come out of high school to be able to come in to work for us, but we want to tap into resources that are going to help them continue their education. So, when you come into our apprenticeship program, we want you to continue on that two-year or even four-year track, but you know, you can do that online now, so you can come to work for us full-time.”
At the end of Provalus’ apprenticeship program, students will gain recognized industry credentials to kick-start their IT career.
The Downtown Difference
Overall, when Provalus enters a community, it aims to not only diversify the local workforce but spur greater economic opportunity in other sectors as well. For instance, Provalus intentionally locates in downtown districts to aid area revitalization and development efforts.
“When you put 100, 200, 300 people back into the corridor in the heart of your downtown, what services have to come help support that? We’re seeing the coffee shops, and the restaurants come in as we’re bringing life back into downtowns, where we had lost that over the years in our rural communities,” Ruzic observes. “That is always what we consider a success when we start seeing these ancillary businesses pop up. That’s truly what we’re trying to do, be that catalyst for revitalization.”
Provalus transforms rural communities by creating careers in IT and delivering dependable outsourcing services like Security Operations, Customer Experience, and more.
Photo courtesy of Provalus
