The head of the company placing a facility in Harrison addresses an annual event of the Harrison Chamber of the Commerce.

The recap of the event from the City of Harrison is below:

The Annual Meeting, sponsored by the Harrison Regional Chamber of Commerce, was a huge success for the businesses and individuals honored and for the community, which heard the heartbeat of the featured speaker, President and CEO of Provalus, Mike Keogh.

Mayor Jerry Jackson said afterward, “I had the pleasure of joining Provalus President Mike Keogh and Vice President Will Ruzic at our annual Chamber banquet. It was great to hear how impressed they are with Harrison. Even more exciting is that they’re planning to add a training center here alongside their current Harrison operation. Great things continue to happen in our community!”

Chamber President/CEO Jeff Nielsen said later, “The people of this community sold themselves to Provalus, and they didn’t even know they were doing it. Mike was very impressed with the luncheon crowd and the business’s engagement with the Chamber.”

Ruzic said he was excited for Mike to come and meet the people of Harrison. “I know what a great community this is and have worked with them. Now I’m excited that our CEO can see it for himself.”

Keogh began, “This is the most people I have ever seen at a Chamber event before – and this is a small town. I couldn’t be happier to be here in Harrison as we move forward.”

“After seeing the building at 101 N. Main, I am super pumped. We will be very successful here. It’s going to be one of the most exciting projects we develop this year, for sure,” Koegh said.

“I love small-town America.” He bragged on the kindergarten students who led the crowd of 400 in the Pledge of Allegiance. The Harrison High School Chamber Singers sang the National Anthem, and the Arkansas National Guard presented the colors. The Harrison High School FBLA served the meal for the event.

Keogh asked the group if they knew what the name “Provalus” stood for. Then explained, “We are providing outsourced value from the US. It means bringing jobs that were offshore back to small-town America. You can sum up our company in one sentence. We ask ourselves, ‘What will improve the lives of our employees?’” 

Keogh said, “We build large-scale teams and provide IT and networking support for the largest companies in the world. But our main goal for this company is to improve the lives of our employees.”

Provalus sells services to the 2,000 largest companies in the world. He mentioned businesses such as Estée Lauder, Ralph Lauren, Chick-fil-A, Pfizer, Allied Bank, and Navy Federal Credit Union.

 “We only have 45 customers, because we have deep, long-term relationships with these companies. We build highly complex, sophisticated operations for them and run them at competitive costs comparable to doing business in India or the Philippines.”

He told the crowd that one of the foreign competitors employs 400,000 people. “There is a lot of room for growth in our company. The IT market is a trillion-dollar market.”

“There are 15 million vehicles sold in the US every year at an average cost of $50,000. The IT market is bigger than the number of cars sold in America. It’s basically an unlimited market for us,” he said.

“We have a great business model, and we do this in a very specific way. We want to find small towns in America where we can create 150-200 jobs. At the size of 200, you know every person in the building, and their family. The accountability the staff feels toward one another is incredible. They went to school together, played Little League together. It’s unlike anything I’ve ever seen or been accustomed to.”

“Provalus likes to bring potential customers to the site, and when they meet our people, they are sold. They sense the staff's accountability to the mission and the customer. Growing 30-40% a year is our goal, and it can continue indefinitely.”

Provalus started less than four years ago with 350 people, and now has 1,350. They began with three locations and will have nine in operation by the end of the year, for a total of 12.

Why Harrison? 

Keogh said the one word that describes rural workforce communities is “underestimated.” 

“We look for communities with murals because that shows a love for the arts and community engagement. It shows a depth of spirit and beyond. Harrison has that. It shows something extra.”

“We love the space at 101 N. Main. We will transform this into an incredible space. We love the concrete floors and exposed brick. We will add LED lighting and make it super tech and fun. We are building a professional work environment for professionals. Our customers don’t take their businesses lightly, and neither do we.”

“Technology is the foundation of the company, and then client training. There are no part-time workers. Everyone works 40 hours, pays $1 for healthcare, and has full benefits. It costs the company about $7,000 per person for health care, but that aligns with the mission to do the best for the employees.”

Keogh mentioned the partnership with North Arkansas College. “We are training students at Northark as high school juniors and seniors. On the day they graduate from high school, we hire them into cybersecurity operations. It’s all about the culture; we celebrate birthdays and have potlucks. This work is hard, so we value a positive work environment. You will see us make an impact in community involvement.” 

“At the first Provalus location, in Brewton, Alabama, the entire downtown was boarded up just three and a half years ago. Now there are boutiques, coffee shops, a funky New York-style bar, and apartments above some shops. The difference is unheard of. But that’s the difference running a $12 million payroll of outside money can make. Every dollar we pay comes from somewhere else. We will have a huge impact on everyone who is here. We are looking forward to that. Thank you for being such a welcoming community. I feel very validated about coming here. We have hundreds of locations to consider each month. I can tell you coming here, it is a great move, and I’m ready to pour fuel on the fire and speed it up. The best is yet to come.”