Milwaukee-based nonprofit
The Water Council and
Veolia North America have joined forces to create a Waste & Wastewater Workforce Center in Milwaukee.
The center is focused on training and growing Milwaukee’s water workforce while also developing new water and energy technologies.
The Water & Wastewater Workforce Center will address challenges such as training and education, outreach, diversity and inclusion, upskilling, and other workforce barriers, according to a Thursday announcement.
“As water challenges related to climate change accelerate, a skilled, diverse water workforce is more crucial than ever,” said
Frédéric Van Heems, Veolia North America president and CEO. “The lessons we learn in Milwaukee will not only build up the workforce locally but can also be applied around the world.”
The center does not have a physical location, nor an associated job impact number at this time, but it will address the unique challenges utilities face in filling positions.
A 2024 report from the U.S. Water Alliance examining the country’s water workforce shows many utilities face a “workforce quantity and quality crisis.”
"About a third of water utility operators are eligible to retire during the next decade," according to the report. "Water utilities must fill 9,200 water treatment operator jobs annually."
VNA is a contract partner with the
Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District to operate and maintain its regional wastewater treatment system. It’s one of the nation's largest wastewater partnerships, serving over 1 million people in 29 municipalities.
Earlier this year, VNA designated Milwaukee as its first North American “eco-factory” in partnership with MMSD and the City of Milwaukee. An eco-factory maximizes the value of materials produced at a wastewater treatment system such as reclaimed water and heat, optimizes processes to operate as efficiently as possible, and incorporates environmental and community stewardship.
Supporting innovation center efforts
The collaboration between Veolia North America and The Water Council supports the nonprofit’s application to become a regional innovation center focused on bolstering water and energy resilience for manufacturers.
“This effort is going to bring together a consortium of more than 50 universities, nonprofits, utilities and companies large and small to help manufacturers and utilities find the water and energy solutions they need,” said
Scott Beightol, chair of The Water Council's board of directors.
The Water Council, along with several partnering organizations,
announced last May it had been awarded $1 million from the U.S. National Science Foundation to further plan out the regional innovation engine, called the W+E Forward Engine.
Last month, The Water Council officially submitted its "pre-posal" for the engine.
“Collaboration is key to this endeavor. That’s why we’re proud to announce we’re partnering with Veolia North America on a water and wastewater workforce center right here in Milwaukee,” said Beightol. “Not only that, but we’re going to reach back to Veolia and Paris for some of the innovation pieces.”
As part of the agreement, Veolia will work with The Water Council and W+E Forward on research, translation and technology development such as new approaches for sludge management and biosolids, improved methods for capturing energy from waste streams, and enhanced efficiencies in water treatment and energy management.
“These partnerships demonstrate that Wisconsin is the perfect place to discover and nurture new water and energy technologies to help small and medium-sized manufacturers and utilities thrive in a sustainable economy,” said
Dean Amhaus, president and CEO of The Water Council. “We’re thrilled to see the support for our Water + Energy Forward Engine and excited to see how it grows.”
