News Staff Report
Will Ruzic, who has served as executive director of Coastal Gateway Economic Development Alliance for the past two years, announced last week that he has resigned his CGEDA position to accept a job as general manager of ProValus, a startup Internet Technology company located in Brewton.
The former CGEDA official noted that he worked closely with ProValus which now has 125 employees, 90 of whom work in Brewton where the company’s headquarters is located. He said he expects the company to add 50 new jobs by the end of July, with half of them coming to Brewton, and to eventually grow to 500 employees.
“I’ve known Will for many years,” Brewton Mayor Yank Lovelace said. “He has been a valuable leader for Coastal Gateway and will be a tremendous asset for ProValus and for our community.”
ProValus is an information technology outsourcing company that has continued to grow since choosing Brewton as its headquarters in 2017. The company also has operations in Jasper, Texas.
Ruzic said he will be helping with site selection and company growth as the general manager.
“I believe in this company and the way it is already transforming lives,” Ruzic said. “I am a longtime Brewton resident and will continue to be. I remain committed to the regional concept (of economic development), as I have seen firsthand what working together has done to benefit our area in times of turmoil.”
Jess Nicholas, associate director of Coastal Gateway, said Ruzic’s move to ProValus would be bittersweet for him and Coastal Gateway’s regional partners.
“This is a loss for me because Will is not just good at what he does, he’s also been a good friend and mentor and he cares about this region deeply,” Nicholas said. “On the other hand, he’s going to be an asset to ProValus, and we’ve already seen how the growth in its Brewton operations has benefited both the city of Brewton and the region as a whole.”
Coastal Gateway represents the economic development interests of a five-county alliance — Escambia, Monroe, Conecuh, Clarke and Choctaw.