CASE STUDY
Sustaining enrollment momentum after Hurricane Helene.
When disaster response became Blue Ridge Community College’s immediate priority, Formation quickly reimagined its enrollment campaign around the workforce Western North Carolina needed to recover — helping enrollment grow despite unprecedented disruption.
Client
Blue Ridge Community College
Reimagining enrollment marketing after a natural disaster.
When Hurricane Helene devastated Western North Carolina in September 2024, Blue Ridge Community College instantly became a community emergency support hub with no time to think about ongoing student recruitment. Formation PR & Brand’s higher education creative team stepped in as a trusted long-term partner to re-envision a resonant enrollment campaign that acknowledged both the pain and the hope of recovery. Despite displaced students, destroyed homes and broken infrastructure, enrollment didn’t just hold steady – it grew by nearly 2%.
A rural community anchor.
Blue Ridge Community College has served Western North Carolina since 1969, training the workforce the region depends on — over 10,000 students a year, 500+ industry partners, and apprenticeships across seven industry sectors including healthcare, emergency services, and skilled trades. The institution not only develops but retains talent in its surrounding rural areas. The college anchors its community as both an economic development engine and a support network.
Responding in crisis without losing sight of what’s next.
Blue Ridge Community College became a vital resource hub for the region overnight — hosting a FEMA base camp, distributing water and food, and housing search-and-rescue crews on campus. With the college consumed by disaster response, ongoing student recruitment had to wait, even as the region faced a severe economic blow. But the college’s mission remained central to the health, safety and stability of the communities it served, and enrollment couldn’t simply be set aside.
When in crisis, you need a partner who won’t let you lose sight of what’s next. For eight years, Blue Ridge Community College has relied on Formation PR & Brand to boost brand awareness and lead results-driven enrollment marketing campaigns. When disaster struck, we were already there. Our team lives and works in Western North Carolina, and being part of the recovery effort was deeply personal to us. We recalibrated enrollment marketing to respond to what the community needed, freeing up… leadership to focus on the critical needs at hand. No onboarding necessary.
Connecting enrollment to regional recovery.
The hurricane made painfully clear how critical first responders, healthcare professionals, and electrical lineworkers were to the disaster response — the people who save lives and build them back. After a disaster, nothing is more urgent than a skilled workforce ready to rebuild, and Blue Ridge’s workforce training expertise and flexible course delivery made it an essential recovery partner. Ads in English and Spanish featured careers tied directly to response and recovery, helping the campaign reach people across the community.
Turning recovery needs into enrollment strategy.
Formation knew the previously designed upbeat marketing campaign would need to pivot quickly in response to a new, post-hurricane reality. We saw an opportunity to highlight programs for displaced workers to build new skills or advance careers in emergency services, construction, engineering and other key sectors that could play a meaningful role in recovery. In less than a month, we redesigned and launched a new campaign that drove engagement and enrollment in meaningful and relevant ways.
Our simple, direct and heartfelt campaign focused potential students on the careers that would put them on the front lines for rebuilding the region they call home.
Sustaining momentum. Carrying the mission forward.
Despite the challenges presented by Hurricane Helene, enrollment not only held steady, but grew by 1.76% between Spring 2024 and Spring 2025.
The rebuild messaging cascaded across all college communications — reaching beyond prospective students to workforce development and government partners — and reinforced Blue Ridge Community College’s critical value to its stakeholders, bolstering brand perception and credibility along the way.
The 9-week campaign generated:
Dr. Laura B. Leatherwood president, Blue Ridge Community College
What does your enrollment moment require?
Whether you’re responding to disruption, shifting student needs or new enrollment pressures, Formation can help you build a marketing and communication strategy that connects with the people you need to reach and moves them to act.