ServiceWorld owner sells off majority share

Pitt, 41, opened ServiceWorld in 1991 to offer a range of traditional computer services primarily aimed at resolving network infrastructure and support issues. In the 17 years since, ServiceWorld has broadened its base with wide-area network security and video surveillance as well as wireless networking.

“If it revolves around your office PC, we do it,” Pitt said.

Miami Nation Enterprises – a longtime ServiceWorld customer – looked at five companies in Oklahoma before approaching Pitt about a strategic partnership late last summer.

“Little did we know they were wanting to get into dealing with some government IT contracts, and to do so, they have to show some history and were looking for a partner as an acquisition,” said Pitt, who also is the 2008 chairman of the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce.

ServiceWorld wasn’t exactly for sale, but Pitt viewed the opportunity as a way to step back from day-to-day business operations and indulge his yearning to participate in overseas humanitarian projects. Although he declined to comment on specifics of the deal, Pitt said he retains a minority share in ServiceWorld, which has 16 full-time employees at its 1409 W. Sunshine St. office.

“They were extremely fair in giving us our asking price,” he added. “We were a debt-free and profitable company, and we were rewarded for such.”

Don Brady, chief executive officer of Miami Nation Enterprises, said negotiations leading up to the Nov. 30 sale were minimal.

“As soon as I saw his financial information and talked to him about his business and what he’d done and what he plans to do, we matched up pretty much perfectly,” said Brady, who previously was in charge of mergers and acquisitions for Chevron. “It was an easy decision as soon as we could come together on terms.”

The Miami Tribe of Oklahoma owns Miami Tribe Entertainment casino as well as a four-screen Cineplex built in 2007, a collection agency, a screen-printing shop, a Native American-themed trading post and a loan company in Kansas City.

“Our vision is to eventually be able to make the Miami Tribe of Oklahoma 100 percent self-sufficient,” Brady said. “Therefore, we strive to build a foundation of diversified businesses.”

Brady said Miami Nation Enterprises won’t meddle with the ServiceWorld business model.

“Doug’s going to run the company just like he has been,” Brady said. “The things that don’t need to be changed, I have no intention of messing with.”

Pitt said ServiceWorld customers shouldn’t have noticed any changes.

“It happened a month ago, and if you didn’t notice it this month, I doubt you will in the third or fourth or a year down the road,” he said.

ServiceWorld Vice President Brent Pennell will be the point man at the company’s Springfield office, but Pitt remains the backbone of the company he built from scratch. He’ll continue to handle many of the company’s long-term accounts and stop by the office frequently.

“I don’t know that I would call it a succession plan as much as a slow changing of the guard,” he said. “It’s the best of both worlds. I get to stay and do what I’m doing, but it still affords me the time and luxury to work on these humanitarian projects.”

Pitt expects his globetrotting to intensify this year, starting with a trip next month to West Africa with WorldServe International, a nonprofit organization that partners with Tanzania-based Maji-Tech Engineering Ltd. to install water wells in Third World countries. In November, Pitt attended a fundraising dinner in Erie, Pa., that raised $160,000 for upcoming well-drilling projects.

On the home front, Pitt will oversee ServiceWorld’s growth, which includes an office in Miami, Okla., just across the border from Joplin. Four or five employees will be hired this spring to staff the office, Pitt said.

Brady said ServiceWorld could potentially open up a number of satellite offices in the region, but he declined to specify future office locations.