| Being engaged opens pathways to success
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Being engaged opens pathways to success

Diverse faces of water workers
Three years ago, Tom LeCourt applied for a job as head of drinking water operations in Springfield, Mass. He had a leg up on the other candidates. For years, LeCourt knew the executive director of Springfield’s water and sewer commission through AWWA’s New England Section. When the position opened, the executive director was already familiar with LeCourt’s consulting work. He landed the job.

In the mid-1990s, Stu Fonda ordered settlers for the treatment plant he supervises in Englewood, Colo. Soon after, he attended an AWWA conference in Toronto, where a different manufacturer introduced him to a solution that made better sense for his operation and his budget. He changed course, and has never regretted the decision.

In 1976, Chuck Van Der Kolk was a 23-year-old water technician in a two-man operation at a treatment plant in Zeeland, Mich., when the plant superintendent passed away unexpectedly. Van Der Kolk had worked there just a year and felt ill-equipped to fill his boss’s shoes, but his 5,000 customers needed him. He turned to AWWA.

“I screamed ‘Help!’ and they provided all the resources and training I needed,” said Van Der Kolk, who still runs the plant. “I would not have been able to do this job without AWWA. Where else could I have gone for professional training, instruction and networking?”

For generations, AWWA has helped water experts advance their careers through networking and education. Membership opens doors to resources and events designed by water experts. Members can engage in webinars, buy training manuals at discounts, download guides, and attend conferences.  They interact with equipment manufacturers and vendors at exhibit halls and build lifelong relationships with their peers. They meet movers in the business who keep them up-to-date on practices and upcoming projects.

Kevin Bergschneider, associate vice president at HDR Engineering in Denver, said joining AWWA was the best thing he ever did for his career.

“It turned acquaintances into friendships by being on the Rocky Mountain Section and AWWA boards together,” Bergschneider said.  “I got connected to people which gave me insights into what kinds of projects the water industry was developing and what was coming up in the future.”

Understanding client needs helps engineering firms develop ideas to share with utilities in presentations and proposals, said Bergschneider, who is also vice chairman of AWWA’s Member Engagement Committee.
 
Patrick Connelly, committee chairman, said the level of participation can be simple or in-depth, and everything in between.  Benefits are both intangible and practical.

LeCourt, of Massachusetts, said he and his boss live in the same town, but they didn’t run into each other at the grocery store or community events. Instead, they connected through AWWA’s New England Section.

 “Whenever I would go to a NEWWA event, I would always make a point to say hello to ‘my neighbor,’ and over the years, we got to know each other pretty well,” LeCourt said. They talked shop, and by the time he applied at her water and sewer commission, she already knew his projects and skill set.

The hiring process, he said, was much less stressful than interviewing with a stranger.

“It was more like chatting with a friend,” LeCourt said. “Fostering that relationship” through the section “turned out to be pivotal for my career in the drinking water field.”

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