Jobs in the Drinking Water and Wastewater Sector1 Connecting workforce development, training providers, the water industry and government. 9/26/13 Lowell Regional Wastewater Utility
BACKGROUND Funded by SkillWorks, the Massachusetts Workforce Alliance and the Lowell Center for Sustainable Production at UMass Lowell conducted research on entry level job opportunities in the water industry. Findings were published in a report, Promoting Career Pathways in the Drinking Water and Wastewater Sectors, and discussed with a focus group convened on 2/16/13. The focus group affirmed that (1) the water profession (including regulators, operators, and contractors) is concerned about the impact of upcoming retirements; (2) there are a lot of existing efforts and programs to increase awareness of and interest in this sector; (3) the water profession offers a wide variety of job opportunities but their number, type and geographic location are not clear; and (4) there are opportunities for the water profession and the workforce development and training communities to work more closely together. One of the focus group’s recommendations was to “increase communication and collaboration between the workforce development community and drinking water/wastewater industry.” Findings and recommendations from the report were also presented at several conferences. An idea generated at one conference was the creation of an opportunity for people to meet on a local or regional level to better understand each other and explore potential collaboration. On 9/16/13 such a group was convened at the Greater Lowell Wastewater Utility. The group included representatives from workforce development organizations, training providers, professional associations, environmental regulatory agencies, and the drinking water and wastewater industry. The agenda and list of participants are attached. Overall, the gathering was a productive meeting of people and the organizations they represent who seldom if ever are in the same room together. The meeting increased awareness of the participants’ mission and expertise, identified common interests and identified specific actions for future communication and collaboration. Highlights of the discussion and action items follow. Based on feedback and evaluations from participants, we recommend additional local/regional meetings between the workforce development community, training providers, government, professional associations, and the drinking water and wastewater industry.
1 Developed by Deborah Mutschler (Massachusetts Workforce Alliance) and Madeline Snow (Lowell Center for Sustainable Production at the University of Massachusetts Lowell) with funding from SkillWorks. 1 MATCHING WORK AND WORKERS
From the wastewater/drinking water perspective:
Qualities of good job candidates “Good self-motivated people who will show up to work.” Education is good but more critical is that they be reliable. Always looking for people with “integrity.”
Types of Positions that exist or will exist Positions at all levels, including entry level as well as middle and senior management positions. Most challenging is finding licensed operators as well as getting mid-level employees who want to move into senior management positions. Most immediate need in some facilities is in maintenance. An example was given that 1/3 of one facility’s staff will retire in 5 years, hitting the maintenance department the most.
“Hiring the right people is the most important thing we do.” Since there is so much promotion from within, getting the right entry level people in the door is vital to long term organizational stability.
How the water industry typically finds people Ads in the newspaper. Job hotlines (for a more comprehensive list, see Appendix 1) o MA Water Pollution Control Association (MWPCA) http://mwpca.org/job_hotline o New England Water Environment Association (NEWEA) http://www.newea.org/YourCareer/Jobs/tabid/160/Default.aspx o MA Water Works Association (MWWA) https://mwwa.memberclicks.net/jobs o New England Water Works Association (NEWWA) http://www.newwa.org/CareerCenter/NEWWACareerCenter.aspx
2 From the perspective of workforce development, training and education perspective:
Talent pool Dislocated workers with strong transferable skills. (A facility gave the example of the recent hiring of an auto mechanic, and noted that paper mill mechanics have been excellent fits for them.) Youth with strong “soft skills” who are good workers, reliable, and accountable.
One WIB noted that out of 17,000 people a year, 8000 were 22-45 years old, 6000 had a high school or GED, and 3000 had a degree from a two or four year college. 1000 were veterans.
Strength of populations served YouthBuild talked about having funds for internship programs and that they could provide paid interns for 3-6 months. Students spend 9-12 months in the program. There are 11 YouthBuilds throughout the state. (see locations at https://youthbuild.org/siteview?state=MA )
WIBs can subsidize on-the-job-training, offer retraining opportunities, and does Summerworks and year round programs for 16-24 year olds.
POTENTIAL WAYS TO “MATCH”, COLLABORATE, AND PARTNER
The discussion indicated an intention to establish more concrete ways that people could work together to match people with the job opportunities coming up in the water industry. Additional ideas and commitments to increase (1) awareness of this sector and jobs and (2) communication and collaboration are below.
Increase awareness of drinking water and wastewater sector and jobs
Ideas Specific Commitments at 9/26/13 Meeting
Drinking/wastewaters professionals could: 1. Be guest speakers at events or courses organized Kathleen Kemp (YouthBuild Lowell) and Briana for workforce development in order to increase (Lowell Career Center) will call Mark Young 2 awareness of job opportunities in this sector. (LRWWU) to be a guest speaker. Ray Willis (MWPCA)3 is going to advertise the 2. Participate in job fairs. 12/3/13 job fair at Bristol Community College; Terry Moran (MA Youth Build Coalition) indicated there are 3 YouthBuilds in the area that would like to be invited.
3. Develop a one-page career information sheet with John Murphy (NEIWPCC)4 will compile a transferable skills, types of employers, growth package of public outreach products to raise
2 LRWWU = Lowell Regional Wastewater Utility 3 MWPCA = Massachusetts Water Pollution Control Association www.mwpca.org 4 NEIWPCC = New England Interstate Water Pollution Control Commission www.neiwpcc.org 3 Increase awareness of drinking water and wastewater sector and jobs
Ideas Specific Commitments at 9/26/13 Meeting
potential, labor market stats, types of jobs (welder, awareness about the water sector. SCADA user, operators) Create/find/launch a one-pager on wastewater and drinking water. Liz Kotowski (MassDEP)5 and John Murphy will look for existing ones.
4. Offer tours of facilities Kathleen Kemp will bring a YouthBuild class for a tour of the LRWWU.
5. Sponsor “Water Boot Camps” (formerly through EPA)
6. Explore the possibility of getting their training e.g. NEIWPCC programs approved for individuals using Individual Training Fund (ITA) vouchers.
7. Explore the use of Workforce Training Funds at private companies
Workforce development could: 1. Encourage potential employees to visit MWPCA and Madeline Snow and Deb Mutschler will other on-line jobs listing provide info on websites. John Murphy, Ray Willis, Terry Moran and 2. Invite industry reps to Career Center staff meetings Odanis Hernandez (Merrimack Valley Workforce Investment Board) will coordinate inclusion of water sector reps for meetings and 3. YouthBuild Learning Academy have water industry career days. people come speak
4. Use existing (e.g., EPA video, Water You Waiting For?, NEIWPCC pamphlet, Veterans booklet (EPA), Posters (EPA), Water’s Worth It, Work for Water, Schools (MWRA), Youth outreach)
5. Contact resources such as Liz Kotowski, MassDEP, Jen Pedersen at MWWA6; Ray Rapoza at NEWWA7
6. Market these jobs as the original “green jobs”
5 MassDEP = Department of Environmental Protection 6 MWWA = Massachusetts Water Works Association www.mwwa.net 7 NEWWA = New England Water Works Association. www.newwa.org 4 Increase communication and collaboration between workforce development, training providers and water sector
Drinking water/wastewater professionals could: 1. Notify Career Centers when they have job Mark Young (GLRWWU) will call Barbara opportunities at their facilities or companies. O’Neill (Lowell WIB) when wastewater jobs open
2. Water sector conferences (e.g., NEWWA/NEWEA8) could have workforce development people speaking on workforce issues. Briana Buckley will connect BSR with Bob Ward (Haverhill Department of Public Works)
All could: 1. Explore internships and mentoring opportunities Terry Moran will share information on internships to meeting participants. Kathleen Kemp will contact Mark Young to talk about paid internships.
2. Do outreach to veterans EPA/MWWA/MWPCA will collaborate with Jane Downing (EPA) on outreach to veterans. Lowell Career Center is doing a “Jobs at Home” career fair with priority entry for veterans on 11/7/13.
3. Explore statewide coordinators for Workforce Investment Boards (WIBs) and the MWPCA
4. Share contact information and be in touch with Madeline Snow and Deb Mutschler will share each other meeting participant information for future outreach.
5. Share information Ray Willis and Terry Moran are going to exchange information for their respective upcoming newsletters.
8 NEWEA = New England Water Environment Association www.newea.org 5 6 7 Jobs in the Drinking Water and Wastewater Sector September 26th, 2013
8:30 AM –12:00 PM, followed by Tour Location: Lowell Regional Wastewater Utility First Street Blvd. (Rt. 110) Lowell, MA 01850 AGENDA
8:30 – 9:00 AM Refreshments and networking
9:00 – 9:30 Welcome and Introductions
9:30 – 10:15 Matching Work and Workers
Small group discussion:
Wastewater and Drinking Water facilities:
o Who are you trying to hire?
o What entry level positions exist or will exist in the next 1-3 years?
o How do you typically hire people and/or get them interested in this field?
Workforce development , training and education participants:
o What is the talent pool you commonly see?
o What is the strength of the populations you serve?
o How might there be a match?
10:15 – 10:30 Break
10:30 – 11:30 Opportunities for Working Together
What are the opportunities for recruitment?
How could we work together?
What actions can and should we take?
11:30 – 12:00 PM Next Steps, Actions, Commitments & Evaluations
12:00 PM Facility Tour with Mark Young, Executive Director of the Lowell Regional Wastewater Utility
8 This meeting was made possible by SkillWorks.
9 Participants in 2/26/13 Focus Group on Drinking Water and Wastewater Jobs [Note that those without a were originally going to participate on 9/26/13 but could not participate ]
Participated? Name Organization Email Address Phone # Almono, Susan Merrimack Valley Workforce Investment Board [email protected] (978) 682-7099 Bienkiewicz, Thomas Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection [email protected] (508) 767-2781 Buckley, Briana Career Center of Lowell [email protected] (978) 805-4802 Coy, Lisa YouthBuild Lawrence [email protected] (978) 681-0548 x 717 Downing, Jane U.S. EPA Region 1 New England [email protected] (617) 918-1571
10 Durette, Sharon Community Action, Inc., Haverhill [email protected] (978) 373-1971 x256
Fougy, Stephanie Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA) [email protected] (617) 788-4072 Hernandez, Odanis Merrimack Valley Workforce Investment Board [email protected] (978)-722-7079 Kemp, Kathleen YouthBuild Lowell, Community Teamwork, Inc. [email protected] (978) 446-9803 x 110 Kotowski, Elizabeth Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection [email protected] (508) 767-2779 Leung, Loh-Sze SkillWorks [email protected] (617) 338-1700
Maynard, Michael Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection 11 [email protected] (508) 767-2735 Moran, Terry MA Youth Build Coalition [email protected] (617) 623-9900 Moreau, Mike MA Water Pollution Control Association [email protected] (508) 989-2744 Murphy, John New England Interstate Water Pollution Control Commission (NEIWPCC) [email protected] 978-349-2514 Mutschler, Deb Massachusetts Workforce Alliance [email protected] (617) 997-1966 Niman, Paul Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection [email protected] (617) 556-1166 O’Neil, Barbara Greater Lowell WIB [email protected] 12 (978) 937-9816
Pedersen, Jen Massachusetts Water Works Association mwwa @verizon.net (978) 263-1388
Quinones, Susan MA Workforce Professionals Association (MWPA) [email protected] (617) 918-5281 Snow, Madeline UMass Lowell, Lowell Center for Sustainable Production [email protected] (617) 817-5111 Vrountas, Ted MA YouthBuild [email protected] (617) 623-9900 Ward, Bob Haverhill Water & Wastewater Divisions, Department of Public Works [email protected] (978) 374-2382 Willis, Ray Onsite Engineering, Inc. [email protected] (508) 553-0616
13 Young, Mark Lowell Regional Wastewater Utility [email protected] (978) 970-4248
14 Appendix 1: Links to Job Postings, provided by Liz Kotowski, MassDEP
Massachusetts Water Works Association(MWWA) http://mwwa.memberclicks.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=29&Itemid=84
New England Water Works Association (NEWWA): http://www.newwa.org/CareerCenter/NEWWACareerCenter.aspx
Veolia Water North America: http://www.veoliawaterna.com/careers/search-apply
United Water: http://www.unitedwater.com/join-our-team.aspx
Woodard & Curran: http://www.woodardcurran.com/careercenter/default.aspx
WhiteWater (part of RH White): http://rhwhite.iapplicants.com/searchjobs.php
Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA): http://www.mwra.state.ma.us/02org/html/humanres.htm
Massachusetts Water Pollution Control Association (MWPCA) Job Hotline: http://www.mwpca.org/job_hotline
New England Water Environment Association (NEWEA) Job Bank: http://www.newea.org/YourCareer/Jobs/tabid/160/Default.aspx Currently has a job posted on 9/24/13 for a wastewater plant operator/laborer (must get a license within six months)
Massachusetts Municipal Association (MMA): http://www.mma.org/municipal-jobs
NH Municipal Association: http://www.nhmunicipal.org/Resources/ClassifiedAds/Employment
Commonwealth of MA (occasionally has jobs for water operators; search using the key word “water”): https://jobs.hrd.state.ma.us Current example: https://jobs.hrd.state.ma.us/recruit/public/31100001/job/job_view.do? postingId=J37531&code=search.public&federalStimulus=no&words=water Have also seen jobs for water storage tank operators in Tewksbury in 2013.
NH Water Pollution Control Association: http://www.nhwpca.org/employment
Siemens Water Technologies: http://www.usa.siemens.com/en/jobs_careers/us_jobs.htm Search by MA under key words. Currently has six jobs in Lowell.
Pall Corporation: https://pall-ats.silkroad.com/epostings/index.cfm?company_id=15930&version=1 Currently has a job for a Senior Quality Engineer in the water purification group in Northborough, MA.
American Public Works Association, New England Chapter (usually upper management jobs): http://newengland.apwa.net/resources/employment
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