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Regional marketing pilot yields leads; chamber seeks partnership to expand 'Start in Hampton Roads'
Summary
Presenters told council that a seven‑month pilot landing page generated roughly 1.8 million impressions, about 25,000 visitors and 1,300 leads; the Hampton Roads Chamber and Roundtable seek Go Virginia funding to expand a job‑board component and asked the city to consider future support for amplification, not an immediate match.
Nancy Gurden, president and CEO of the Hampton Roads Executive Roundtable, told Virginia Beach City Council that the Start in Hampton Roads initiative began as a regional effort to understand and reverse out‑migration.
"We have a communication problem here as much as anything," Gurden said, summarizing the task force’s finding that residents and former residents were not fully aware of job opportunities and quality‑of‑life advantages in the region.
Lauren Roberts, vice president of marketing communications for the Hampton Roads Chamber of Commerce, presented results from a July–December pilot: the campaign reached about 1.8 million impressions, drew roughly 25,000 visitors to a campaign landing page and produced more than 1,300 leads from job seekers who completed an interest form. Roberts said paid search and display ads had a measured cost per click of about $0.52 in the pilot and that the roughly $30,000 spent produced significant targeting data for industries including cybersecurity, engineering, energy and maritime.
The presenters said the pilot was funded by seed money from the Virginia Economic Development Partnership and that the Chamber Foundation is the lead applicant for a Go Virginia Region 5 application to build out job‑board components. "We are not here today to ask you for match money for Go Virginia," Gurden said, but she asked the council to note the application and consider future ways the city might amplify the effort.
Council members praised the outreach and suggested regional coordination on job fairs, closer ties to higher‑education partners and attention to housing affordability and workforce pipelines. One council member urged regular job fairs and local partnerships to retain veterans who seek to remain in the region after service.
The briefing closed with staff noting the Go Virginia council meeting timeline (regional council in late January, full board in March) and confirming the landing page remains active while partners seek longer‑term funding and a full site build.
