PRESS RELEASE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 22, 2024
For more information, contact:
Emily Nicholson, Executive Director, Land of Sky P20 Council
emilyn@landofsky.org or 252.916.2678
Smith Systems and Land of Sky P20 Council Partner for Manufacturing Career Exposure
Smith Systems and the Land of Sky P20 Council collaborated on a new marketing initiative (#worklocal) to expose our emerging workforce to manufacturing careers. Two versions of posters were created with pictures of Smith Systems employees, local graduation credentials, and quotes reflecting the employees’ career passion for the purpose of being hung at two Transylvania County High Schools. The posters featured local graduates from Brevard High Schools and were presented to D. Kerry Putnam, the Career & Technical Education Director of Transylvania County Schools, Jason Ormsby, Principal of Rosman High School, and David Galloway, Principal of Brevard High School, on April 18, 2024. The Smith Systems employees who volunteered to be included in the posters include: John Arnold (Engineering Manager); Danny Baddeley (Sales Process Team Manager); Carl Conley, Jr. (Sales Lead Development); Chas Moore (Purchasing Manager); and William J. Smith (Vice President).
In the effort to enhance career interests in the manufacturing industry, the #worklocal initiative will encourage local high school students to seek training and employment opportunities within growing career fields. These near-peer, local, and current employees of Smith Systems will hopefully serve as a catalyst for this inspiration and is one of many efforts that workforce partners of the region are deploying to enhance interest in our highest-growth industry sectors. Smith Systems is a privately owned manufacturer of speed sensors, motion sensors and temperature sensors, as well as sensor controls, custom instrumentation, and cable harnessing associated with these devices.
About the Land of Sky P20 Council
The Land of Sky P20 Council fosters collaboration among employers, educators, and community members in the spirit of enduring economic prosperity, through the alignment of innovative cradle-to-career skills and resources that lead to life-sustaining job opportunities in our four-county region of western North Carolina. The Council is one collaborative across the state that underscores the endeavors of myFutureNC, which established a goal for NC to produce 2 million individuals possessing credentials that lead to gainful employment by the year 2030. The P20 Council is grateful for the support it receives from the John M. Belk Endowment to make events like this possible.
For more information about the Land of Sky P20 Council, please visit: https://www.losp20.org.
From left to right: Hunter Jones, Director of Business Development at the Transylvania Economic Alliance, David Galloway, Principal of Brevard High School, D. Kerry Putnam, Career & Technical Education Director of Transylvania County Schools, and Emily Nicholson, Executive Director of the Land of Sky P20 Council
From left to right: Smith Systems employees John Arnold (Engineering Manager); William J. Smith (Vice President); Carl Conley, Jr. (Sales Lead Development); and Chas Moore (Purchasing Manager)
Jason Ormsby, Principal of Rosman High School
From left to right: David Galloway, Principal of Brevard High School, and D. Kerry Putnam, Career & Technical Education Director of Transylvania County Schools
