Author Archives: Jessica Rozek

Holding Fast Against the ‘Silver Tsunami’

It is no secret that the water sector is grappling with significant workforce challenges. Per the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, approximately one-third of U.S. water workers are eligible to retire within the next decade. Coupled with the rapid advancement of technologies in the sector, there is an urgent need to attract, train, and retain specialists …

Relive Operations Challenge 2024

Three divisions; six countries; 56 teams; 37 years. Many numbers can measure the magnitude of Operations Challenge, billed as the water sector’s premier skills competition. But for more than 300 contenders this year, a single number took precedence over any other: first place. Read the full coverage in December Water Environment & Technology.

Breaking Down Silos

Siloed organizations, characterized by isolated departments and fragmented workflows, are an important topic in workplace management. This is because a siloed organization can negatively affect its customers, stakeholders, and employees. Read more in August 2024 WE&T.

Tapping the Talent Pipeline: Developing the next generation of leaders in your organization

Across the United States, water and wastewater utilities are challenged with managing aging infrastructure, tight budgets, and understaffing — not to mention rising retirements and a shrinking talent pool. Many organizations believe they lack the resources to do succession planning or focus on workforce development, but it can be done. This article looks at two …

‘Be Curious’: Embracing Our Unique Selves

By any measure, Belinda Sturm has had an illustrious career. She has rubbed shoulders with many researchers over the years. But as at the start of her much anticipated talk at WEFTEC 2023, “Embracing the Imposter Among Us: How Interdisciplinary and Intersectional Identities Are an Asset,” she cited a surprise influence on her philosophy: Ted …

To Flush or Not to Flush: Florida video contest encourages high schoolers to tackle baby wipes, cotton balls, and other unflushables with their own public service announcements.

The Florida Water Environment Association (FWEA) Public Communication and Outreach Committee (PCOC) is now in its sixth year of sponsoring an annual contest that encourages high school students to showcase their creativity — and fact-checking — when it comes to talking about what should or should not go down a toilet. In 2023, the FWEA …

The Recipe for Success: Three essential ingredients for building the workforce of the future

Good employees are hard to find. This fact should come as no surprise to anyone in the water sector, and it will hold true in 2024 as well. Most public utilities have record numbers of vacancies, and overall low unemployment numbers mean that job seekers have many options when choosing where they want to work. …