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Collectively Solving Problems
Author(s) -
Lafrance David
Publication year - 2010
Publication title -
journal ‐ american water works association
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.466
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1551-8833
pISSN - 0003-150X
DOI - 10.1002/j.1551-8833.2010.tb10125.x
Subject(s) - workforce , work (physics) , column (typography) , plan (archaeology) , business , water industry , service (business) , customer service , operations management , marketing , engineering , water supply , telecommunications , economics , environmental engineering , mechanical engineering , archaeology , frame (networking) , history , economic growth
In his first Journal AWWA column as Executive Director of the American Water Works Association, David LaFrance said that he intends to use the column as a means of discussing the methods by which AWWA will help its members plan for the critical challenges the water industry is facing. He named the column “Open Channel” to combine the name for a water conveyance system with his goal of straightforward discussions about the water industry. The two challenges he discussed in this month's column are infrastructure replacement and workforce management, including the following: a systematic and financially feasible plan from a customer standpoint that balances and communicates the infrastructure replacement necessity against the customer's financial impact while managing service level risks; and, efforts such as partnering with the Water Environment Federation on the Work for Water campaign to recruit new talent into the water field to replace the 30% of water industry workers who are expected to retire over the coming decade.