How This Company Is Bringing High-Paying Tech Jobs to Forgotten Rural Towns

Transforming Rural America with Technology Careers

Provalus, an IT and customer service company, is onshoring jobs in rural America while its competitors continue to hire thousands of positions abroad. Unlike other companies that focus on medium and large cities, Provalus intentionally targets small communities of 5,000 to 15,000 people that have experienced significant disinvestment.

From Skepticism to Success in Brewton, Alabama

In towns like Brewton, Alabama—once dominated by sawmills—the idea of hundreds of technology jobs seemed so improbable that local economic developer Will Ruzic initially dismissed it as "too good to be true." Ruzic, now Provalus's vice president of facilities, recalls thinking the proposition sounded "very far-fetched" when first approached by company leadership.

Serving Fortune 1000 Companies with Local Talent

The company provides critical services including help desk support and cybersecurity to major corporations like Chick-fil-A and Navy Federal Credit Union. "What we sell to customers are teams of people," explains Provalus President Mike Keogh. "We're selling teams of people that are running very sophisticated operations critical to the success of our customers."

Economic Revitalization Through Middle-Class Jobs

"Our goal is to create middle-class jobs as quickly as possible," says Keogh. The company achieves this by paying wages 10% to 15% above the national median income while offering healthcare benefits that cost employees just $1 per paycheck.

Breathing Life Into Dying Downtowns

The strategic placement of offices in downtown areas has transformed communities. "I drove through downtown for 25 years and never saw life, never saw a car," Ruzic says of Brewton. "It was really just a ghost town. To be able to create this density and drive additional investment—that's true revitalization."

Since Provalus arrived in Brewton, approximately 10 new businesses have opened, and existing business owners like Deborah George of Holley House Bed & Breakfast report that the company's community-minded approach has provided the support needed to survive in a town that was losing businesses.

Creating New Career Pathways

The company is providing opportunities for career changes, mothers returning to work, and veterans transitioning to civilian life—with 20% of employees being veterans. Rachel Morton, who leads a 150-person team in Brewton after working as a school aide, observes: "In small towns like this there aren't really a lot of opportunities. A lot of these kids I see here probably would have gone to more of a labor job, and now I'm really getting to see them expand on what they're capable of."

Rapid Expansion and Unique Workplace Culture

With about 30 new employees entering training every week across nine locations in the southern and central U.S., Provalus is expanding rapidly. The company emphasizes employee wellbeing with community rooms containing gently used clothes, baby formula, and other necessities, plus amenities like treadmills and even an indoor playground slide.

Kimberly Lewis, who transitioned from being a mechanic for 18 years to leading her own team, found the career change profoundly fulfilling after personal tragedy prompted her to pursue her aptitude for technology.

Ending the Urban Tech Monopoly

Provalus is shattering the misconception that modern, innovative offices exist only in Silicon Valley or major metropolitan areas. Now, rural communities like Brewton are proving that high-tech careers and vibrant workplaces can thrive anywhere.