TULSA, Okla. -- Thirty-seven years after founding Tulsa, Okla.-based MPSI (Market Planning Solutions Inc.), Ronald G. Harper has announced his retirement from the company effective Dec. 31, 2007. He will continue to chair the board, but only in a non-executive capacity.
Harper started the business working out of a small room in his Tulsa home. He had $500 in working capital and no tangible product to sell. What he did have was the concept of a computer model that could help petroleum marketers select the best sites for their outlets.
His concept was put to the test when the president of a North America petroleum company asked him to evaluate five sites in the Tulsa market that were under construction and already laying brick. Using his statistical model, Harper evaluated the sites and ended up having to tell the president that all of the sites would fail, which they did.
"I knew that all of the chips were on the table, and if my projections were wrong, MPSI would be finished," Harper recalled. Fortunately for MPSI, and ultimately the client, Harper's projections were correct.
The one-man MPSI operation of yesterday is now a global player in retail location technology and data services to clients in the petroleum, convenience store, banking, quick-service restaurant, grocery and postal industries. The company has evaluated more than two million retail sites around the world and serves customers in more than 80 countries.
When asked how he would sum up the past 37 years, Harper's response was immediate. "It has been one very exciting rollercoaster adventure," Harper said of the past 37 years. "The ups and downs of changing global economies, amazing technology advancements, increased opportunities in retail marketing, changing needs of retailers all have impacted and played a major role in who MPSI is today."
Harper added that he plans to "keep his plate full" in retirement.
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