MCEDP

A Moore County business is looking to add dozens of new employees this year.

Veterans Guardian VA Claim Consulting, based in Pinehurst, is a pre-filing consulting firm that helps veterans maximize the amount of benefits they receive. The company has 140 employees today, said Mark Christensen, chief of staff for the company, and is looking to increase that number in 2022.

“Our plan, between now and the end of the year, is to hire somewhere between 70-100 employees,” Christensen said.

To help facilitate that expansion, the company purchased a small office facility at 165 Shepherd Trail in Aberdeen for $715,000, according to a deed filed Feb. 23. The space is just under 5,000 square feet and sits in the western part of the town near N.C. Highway 5.

Christensen said the additional employees will allow the company to offer more service to the millions of veterans living in the U.S. The company’s workforce today is veteran heavy, as Christensen said about three-quarters of the staff is made up of veterans, spouses of veterans and spouses of active-duty service members.

The Sandhills have attracted more veterans throughout the years thanks to its proximity to Fort Bragg half an hour down the road. The influx of veterans and their families has been a major reason that Moore County has evolved younger and why the county is not known as a place just for retirees and golfers anymore.

As other rural areas lose residents to suburban and urban environments, Moore County – led by the Aberdeen, Pinehurst and Southern Pines micropolitan area – is bucking that trend. Moore County grew its population by 13 percent during the 2010s and is now home to roughly 100,000 people.

(Story by Evan Hoopfer, Triangle Business Journal)