The Harrison Regional Chamber of Commerce and the City of Harrison have been working with a company that would like to open a site in Harrison.
Mayor Jerry Jackson said, “After nine months of work, we are asking for grant approval with Resolution 1329 that would enable the mayor to ask for a $500,000 matching grant. We can place at least 150 jobs in the Harrison Square.”
Chamber President/CEO Jeff Nielsen said, “This is a once-in-a-decade opportunity. The Arkansas Economic Development Commission (AEDC) contacted us about a request for buildings available downtown.”
ProValus would like to provide the training and jobs for at least 150 IT jobs over five years with full health care benefits and salaried positions between $18 and $21 an hour. They will work with Northark to train workers.
Nielsen and Mayor Jerry Jackson said that together, they called every Mayor of a city where ProValus is located, and there were no negative comments. “Every Mayor said he would partner with them again in a heartbeat,” Nielsen said. “We could not find a downside.”
Vice President of Facilities & Operations, Will Ruzic, introduced the ProValus company to the Council. “In 2017, the administration focused on returning jobs to the US, but it was mainly in manufacturing. The organizers of this company recognized that one-half a trillion dollars a year was still being outsourced overseas for IT.”
They saw opportunities to drive IT jobs to rural Americans and make a difference. ProValus stands for “Providing Value from the US.” The American-owned and operated company has over 1,000 employees in Alabama, Texas, Oklahoma, and South Carolina, eight operational centers, and three others under construction.
“IT is a very broad term. We do lots of different work. We work with over 50 companies, most of which are Fortune 500 and larger. Our clients are all names you have heard of, and some fast food franchises you’ve dined in. We are responsible for the applications you use for those restaurants on your phone. We do a lot of work in application development. Cybersecurity is one of our fastest-growing areas. We also work with artificial intelligence, network operations, security operations – many different disciplines in the IT space. All employees are our W-2 employees, but they are dedicated to specific clients. We pay 100% of health insurance and gym memberships because we believe that is the right thing to do. We are looking for ways to make an impact in the community. We love Harrison and are excited about the prospect of being here.”
Ruzic said he mentioned 150 jobs, because that’s all that can fit in the space they are looking at acquiring. “But I hope there is a Phase 2 to this project and we get to hire more.”
Mayor Jackson said most of the significant companies and industries in Harrison are home-grown. “Now we have an opportunity to bring one in and add it to downtown. That’s the icing on the cake. We have several smaller companies considering downtown, and when this goes through, they will be signing, too.”
The council members asked questions of Ruzic. One was about the training.
“We are not in rural America because we think there is a plethora of IT talent. We understand that, and we bring the training with us. After foundational training, they will go into more client-specific training. We also partner with local community colleges and share our curriculum. Some colleges offer credits on the college level for that training.”
Another was concerned about a foreign influence on the board. However, the sister company’s name was misspelled, and one letter made a big difference. Ruzic reiterated, “We are an American-owned and operated company.”
The board members and leadership teams are all from the United States. “We often get lumped into a call center group, but we are not a call center. About 15-20% of our work may be phone-related. But it is always inbound calls, not outbound.”
“Turnover after 60 days is less than five percent,” he said.
Harrison Public Schools Superintendent Stewart Pratt spoke in favor of Resolution 1329, which allows the Mayor to apply for a grant with the AEDC.
Pratt said, “Approximately 43% to 45% of our graduates will go on to college. Five to eight percent will go into the military. That leaves around 50% who will remain here, seeking jobs, employment, and a place to build a life. We love that. We want people to stay here. Resolution 1329 is a chance for economic development to provide jobs for our future youth and have them raise their families with a high-wage job. This is another way to grow our community and continue moving forward. Local employment and local dollars return right back into our community. The Chamber Board believes this is very viable.”
The council unanimously asked the mayor to pursue the grant application with the AEDC.
