Rural cities get a helping hand for tech workforce and economic development
Aerial View of shops on Broad Street in Edenton, North Carolina. Kyle Little via Getty Images
A public-private partnership to help rural Americans obtain tech skills and jobs is looking to support workforce growth and economic development in small towns.
An initiative from IT outsourcing company Provalus is looking to realize the potential of rural America’s untapped tech workforce and opportunities for economic development.
Under a public-private partnership model, the effort works with state and local governments and other private organizations to support the launch of business centers, where residents can receive technical training and start IT jobs supporting the company’s clients.
The ultimate goal is to connect rural residents with sustainable jobs and higher wages, as well as drive digital transformations and downtown revitalizations in rural towns, said Mike Keogh, president of Provalus. Since the company’s founding in 2017, it has opened offices in eight locations across five states, supporting about 1,000 tech employees.
Edenton, North Carolina, is one of the company’s newest workforce development targets. The state’s governor, Josh Stein, announced in February that the city will house a center of excellence that aims to create 61 new jobs. The project is partly supported by a $150,000 grant from a state program that helps local governments support economic development projects.
Edenton, home to just under 5,000 people in Chowan County, has an economy dependent on a nearby hospital, the local school system and manufacturing businesses, said James Chesson, lead of economic development for the Edenton Chowan Partnership, a nonprofit that supports business development in the area.
When people graduate high school and enter the workforce, many seek education and employment opportunities in bigger metro areas because the city lacks open positions, he explained.
Working with Provalus will help bring tech and white-collar jobs “that aren’t traditionally found in rural America” and “minimize the brain drain” to strengthen the city’s economy, Chesson said. The company has projected that it will help create more than 150 jobs over five years, which will help generate $1.2 million in retail spending downtown, he added.
For people entering the workforce or wanting to switch careers, Provalus’ initiative is open to anybody, regardless of their tech background, Keogh said.
Individuals can apply to receive training from typically four to 10 weeks to develop their tech and business skills, he explained. For the first few weeks, participants learn basic computer skills like entry-level networking and troubleshooting. Employees then receive client-specific training to provide IT services to Provalus’ customers, such as application and product development, network operations services, data analytics and more.
Cybersecurity is an increasing priority for the organization, Keogh said, which is working to upskill employees in services like identity and access management, endpoint detection and response and data loss prevention. Provalus also offers artificial intelligence services, such as monitoring and managing chatbots.
Staff also undergo soft skills development to, for instance, help sharpen their business etiquette or customer service skills because, in rural communities, some people have never worked in a corporate environment.
“You have to meet people where they are,” Keogh explained.
Since October 2023, Tahlequah, Oklahoma, has seen more than 200 people hired by Provalus, said Nathan Reed, president and CEO of the city’s Regional Development Authority and Area Chamber of Commerce.
It can be difficult to recruit businesses and workers to come to the city of about 16,000 residents, because “there’s not a single mile of rail in the whole county. We don’t have a port, [and] we don’t have an interstate … so you don’t pass through us as you’re going on [U.S. Route 412],” said Reed.
But “we knew that we had a workforce that was ready to go,” he said, explaining that the local Northeastern State University also leverages a partnership with Provalus to host an internship program that prepares students studying computer science for local career opportunities in tech.
“We always want to keep NSU graduates here in this town,” Reed said, and workforce development is a strong selling point for them, particularly as the city has traditionally lacked a tech sector.
He also pointed to the city’s population of individuals that do not have a high school diploma or GED, but have the capability to enter the tech industry through opportunities like Provalus.
Closing the educational and employment divide through such partnerships can help create more financial freedom for residents and drive economic development in the city’s downtown area, Reed said. Provalus, for instance, has renovated a former department store into an office building, where employees are often frequenting downtown stores and restaurants.
As technology advances in larger metro areas, Chesson said, it’s vital for rural America to keep up with such developments to help support their local families and businesses.
“It’s only going to get more sophisticated, and they need to get on board now,” he said.
Editor's Note: This story was updated June 16 to correct Mike Keogh's title.