Provalus, a subsidiary of IT solutions company Optomi of Roswell, Ga., announced this week that it had chosen Brewton as its new U.S. headquarters and will eventually hire 300 or more workers at the facility.
Provalus provides a wide range of IT-related services to clients in such fields as manufacturing, defense contracting, retail, food services and others. The company’s Brewton employees will be part of teams responsible for such services as app development, programming, break/fix customer service and cloud storage.
The company is the first large-scale IT-related firm operating in the area. Provalus has entered into a 15-year lease agreement with the city that will eventually see the company locate a campus of buildings on the grounds of the former Dogwood Hills Golf Course.
Optomi maintains offices in eight major cities across the United States, including Atlanta, Detroit, Charlotte, Dallas and Denver. Provalus is its first venture into a rural area, although company officials have prior experience with the concept and are confident it will work.
Part of Brewton’s allure, said Coastal Gateway Economic Development Alliance Executive Director Will Ruzic, was the availability of a temporary space to use while the company builds its future facility.
The new company’s presence means that part of that Dogwood Hills Golf Course, which was closed just before the project came to fruition, will be repurposed.
Ruzic said that plans for the Dogwood Hills area include more office space, some retail commercial, some residential areas and other projects.
Provalus is currently using space in downtown Brewton at the former location of NDI’s Cracked Pot retail store. The company will likely be there for a year or more before transitioning to the Dogwood Hills area. The project made use of multiple sources of funding, both public and private, including a special $1.5 million appropriation from Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey.