Quest Helps Launch New Port Manatee Connexion Shuttle
Located “where Tampa Bay meets the Gulf of Mexico,” Port Manatee is the closest U.S. deep-water seaport to the expanded Panama Canal and an engine for global commerce, generating more than $3.9 billion in annual economic impact.
Since 2015, jobs at the self-sustaining seaport have more than doubled; last October it was reported that the total cargo tonnage moving through Port Manatee had reached an all-time high. Despite this extraordinary boom, a shortage of workers to handle freight has put a strain on seaport employers — part of the ongoing nationwide supply chain crisis.
To boost transportation in Port Manatee and help alleviate the workforce shortage, Quest’s client Manatee County Area Transit, or MCAT, rose to the occasion and developed a direct route servicing Port Manatee workers. Launched in late 2021 and marketed by Quest, the Port Manatee ConneXion Shuttle is a shared-ride, call-ahead service designed mainly for commuters, with stops outside the seaport’s main gates and several pickup locations in the local area.
“With the ConneXion Shuttle, MCAT is responding to a pressing need. The seaport is going through phenomenal growth, which substantiated the need for the shuttle’s direct route,” says Quest Business Unit Leader Barbara Catlin, who leads all marketing projects for the contract with the transit company.
The new service offers a convenient method for current workers to get to and from the seaport, and also expands the pool of potential new employees for thriving businesses at the port, while increasing ridership on MCAT services.
“It’s an attractive feature for increasing the labor force,” says Quest Executive Vice President Mary Brooks, who attended a career fair at Bradenton Area Convention Center last October to promote the ConneXion Shuttle among jobseekers. “With this new shuttle service that Quest is marketing, MCAT is remediating the factors that contribute to the workforce shortage. They were eager to supply that missing link.”
Quest continues to promote the ConneXion Shuttle via social media, marketing collateral, and graphic design for route maps.
By Barbara Catlin, Business Unit Leader
& Mary Brooks, Executive Vice President
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