Since 2024, Qantm Creative has served as the strategic and creative partner behind the Hampton Roads Workforce Council’s Hampton Roads Maritime Training System (HRMTS), a collaborative effort between community, education, and industry partners to raise the profile of the region’s maritime industry and move qualified talent into the shipbuilding, ship repair, and maritime manufacturing careers that power Hampton Roads and the national defense industrial base.

Our partnership began with research. A regional perception survey revealed the gap between how key audiences see the maritime industry and what these careers actually offer. That insight shaped everything that followed: the HRMTS brand, a comprehensive outreach strategy, and an audience-segmented digital platform built to speak directly to distinct groups, including veterans and transitioning military and under- or unemployed jobseekers, each with messaging that matters to them.

What started as an awareness campaign has grown into one of the most effective workforce marketing systems in the Commonwealth. HRMTS has produced more graduates than any other maritime workforce training program in Virginia, sustaining an 88% program completion rate — well above national averages for trades training — and enrolling more than 4,100 students in 2025 alone.

The digital platform we built and continue to manage has generated more than 136,000 unique visitors, connecting real people to real maritime careers across the region.

In 2026, the partnership entered its next chapter: a two-year expansion supported by the BlueForge Alliance, focused on scaling recruitment and attraction as HRMTS drives toward its goal of 10,000 trained maritime workers by 2028.

Website: www.maritimejobsva.com

What We’ve Delivered

Over the course of the partnership, Qantm has built and now manages the full HRMTS marketing system:

Research & Strategy — Regional perception survey, audience analysis, and the outreach strategy that continues to guide messaging for youth, veterans and transitioning military, and jobseekers.

Brand Identity — The complete HRMTS brand, from naming and visual identity through campaign creative, applied consistently across every partner touchpoint.

Digital Platform — Design, development, and ongoing management of maritimejobsva.com, an audience-segmented website that routes each visitor to the training pathway built for them.

Campaign Creative & Media — Multi-channel digital advertising, social media campaigns, media planning, and video production driving sustained awareness across the region.

Events & Outreach Materials — Branded event displays, recruitment collateral, and the GDUSA award-winning HRMTS coloring book introducing maritime careers to the region’s youngest future workforce.