PrivacyStar to add 121 jobs in Conway

by The City Wire staff ([email protected]) 237 views 

Conway-based PrivacyStar will add 121 good-paying jobs through a $270,000 expansion at the company’s Conway headquarters.

The company, founded by former Acxiom CEO Charles Morgan, offers a consumer service that provides “comprehensive privacy on smartphones,” according to a statement from the Arkansas Economic Development Commission.

The 121 new jobs have an hourly average wage of $38, according to AEDC.

“Most of our new jobs will be highly technical mobile application and network based,” Charles Morgan, executive chairman of First Orion Corporation, the founder of PrivacyStar, said in the statement. “The need for talented and motivated employees in the mobile technology world has never been greater and will only continue to grow as the industry rapidly expands worldwide. We will be aggressively searching for quality technical talent in the mobile space and our plan is to find them right here in Arkansas”

A smartphone security app created by PrivacyStar allows consumers to block and report unwanted callers and access additional features in privacy and protection.

“PrivacyStar is a homegrown Arkansas business about to get a whole lot bigger,” Gov. Mike Beebe said. “It is the latest example of how creative insight paired with technological know-how can create good jobs for our communities.  We are rooting for PrivacyStar’s continued success in Conway in the coming years.”

PrivacyStar’s complaint filing feature allows users to report Do Not Call Registry and Fair Debt Collection Practices Act violations directly from their phone. Do Not Disturb allows consumers to send customized text messages such as “I’m driving” or “in a meeting” to callers. PrivacyStar’s Caller Lookup function allows users to identify unknown callers by name so they may be added to the contacts list or Privacy List.

Conway Mayor Tab Townsell said the announcement shows that Conway has a role to play in growing Arkansas’s knowledge based economy.

“PrivacyStar could have located anywhere in the country.  We’re grateful their leadership chose Conway. We think our city offers the quality of life and professional opportunities that next generation tech talent demand.”

PrivacyStar now has more than one-million registered users. Through the app, users have filed more than 300,000 FTC complaints due to unwanted calls.