FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

April 11, 2025

Contact: Jennifer Pearce, 614-562-7449

 

 

(Aberdeen, NC) -- Leaders from Sandhills Community College in Pinehurst and Spiritus Systems headquartered in Aberdeen, North Carolina, met this week to sign a three-year training agreement to include leadership and a variety of professional development opportunities with classes and experiences being held on both site locations and within the community.

 

“This is an amazing opportunity for our business and employees,” said Nichole Holroyd, COO of Spiritus Systems, an international manufacturer of military equipment and accessories. “We’re appreciative for the Sandhills Community College team to bring this experience to us and look forward to working with their faculty and trainers to support the workforce needs of our staff. Growing our team from within is important to our culture and future plans for ongoing success. I love to see when academia and business can work together and no one does it better than North Carolina.”

 

Holroyd taught at Sandhills Community College for a short stint and CEO Zane Vogel earned an Associate Degree in Business from Sandhills Community College after serving in the Army. He and CCO Adam Holroyd concepted the idea for the business while on the mountainside in the Hindu Kush serving in the Army. They engaged others who knew firsthand what would make a better product for their safety and convenience while out in the field or performing their job. Since it’s inception the company has grown to more than 100 employees with clients world wide.

 

The partnership is part of the NCEdge Customized Training Program funded by the North Carolina General Assembly and North Carolina Community College System (NCCCS). Sandhills Community College will administer the training support funds for the Spiritus Systems project. The training funds made available to Sandhills Community College are based on Spiritus System’s estimates of salary, newly created full-time positions, and capital investment.

 

The project plan is broken out in the following categories encompassing regional trainers,

college instructors, and third party vendors.

 

“We are excited to see this partnership in the local community with Spiritus Systems and look forward to many more opportunities like this to support local businesses in the region we serve in Moore and Hoke Counties,” said Sandhills Community College President Alexander “Sandy” Stewart. “We are proud to use our skill set to empower employee and employers to grow their teams and operations through our newly formed Workforce Development and Corporate Partnership division.”

 

The division is lead by Senior Director for Workforce Development & Corporate Partnerships, Taylor McCaskill and Director of Customized Training and Organizational Development, Carlos McCormick. The alliance between the two organizations will be rated on quality, usefulness, and the quantifiable financial impact the company has realized as a result of the programs and services offered over the next three years. The purpose of the new division is to empower businesses and build futures through workforce solutions tailored specifically for Moore and Hoke Counties.

 

The timeline at Spiritus entails:

Project start date: 03/07/25

Last course to be completed by: 02/07/28

Project Completion: 03/07/28

Eligible employees: 107

Project estimated value: $106,739

Capital Investment: $2,300,000

 

To learn more about the Workforce Development and Corporate Partnership division at Sandhills Community College and how it can impact your business, email: workforcepartnerships@sandhills.edu or visit: www.sandhills.edu/workforce-development

 

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President Sandy Stewart at Sandhills Community College and Nichole Holroyd COO of Spiritus Systems, sign the three-year project plan to offer leadership and professional development opportunities to Spiritus employees by Sandhills Community College faculty, staff and guests.

 

Members from the Moore County Chamber of Commerce and staff from Sandhills Community College tour the building to learn about operations from Nichole Holroyd COO and CEO Zane Vogel.

 

 

 

More about Spiritus

About:

THE SPIRITUS STORY

Spiritus Systems started as an idea on the side of a mountain in the Hindu Kush: an idea that we could do this better, that we could care about it more, and that we could do it with integrity. This idea was cultivated in B Huts after missions and scribbled down into notebooks under headlamps across multiple combat deployments. 

 

TO BE, RATHER THAN TO SEEM

We strive every day to design and manufacture equipment that exceeds the users' expectations and pushes past the industry status quo. All of our equipment is designed with an end state in mind. We spend time with users of various walks of life to form an educated and accurate picture of their needs. Our design philosophy calls on our own military service, user feedback and experience, as well as our advanced United States based manufacturing techniques to bring quality equipment to the marketplace. 

 

Established in 1963, Sandhills Community College is the 18th largest community college in the 58-member community college system in North Carolina. More than 1,000 students graduate each year with associate degrees, certificates and certifications to enter the job market and enhance the regional economy of Moore and Hoke Counties as well as the state of North Carolina. Others move on to pursue their journey in higher education to earn a bachelor's degree and additional degree attainment. The 300-acre campus is also home to the Bradshaw Performing Arts Center, Horticultural Gardens as well as NJCAA athletics in golf, basketball and volleyball. It is home to one of eight collision repair automotive apprenticeship programs in the United States; a USGA apprenticeship program for turf management; and offers workforce training and development for companies and small businesses in the region. Students and employers have access to internships, pre-apprenticeships and apprenticeships to build the employee and economic pipeline.