The mission of the City of Jackson Wastewater Treatment Facilities (CJWTF) is to produce high quality, safe water in adequate quantities to serve the needs of the customers within the City of Jackson, and to distribute this water to these customers in a safe manner. CJWTF collects wastewater from both retail and wholesale customers and treats the wastewater to make it safe to return to the river with minimum impact on the environment.
Scope
Challenge
One of the top priorities for the EPA is to ensure that all Americans have safe drinking water and effective wastewater processing services that are essential for life and everyday existence. In addition to the challenges that outdated and dysfunctional infrastructure presents for most water/wastewater facilities throughout the US, communities are plagued with a shortage of employees to carry out the operational functions. This shortage has been prompted by an aging workforce without a sufficient pipeline of younger, experienced talent to replace them. Attracting top talent to address the escalating shortage of a skilled workforce in the water/wastewater industries is an ongoing challenge for leadership throughout the industry.
Proposed Solution
Slater Infrastructure Group recognizes the importance of supporting workforce and economic development to close the skills gap which presents staffing obstacles for our client, Veolia Water and the Wastewater Treatment Facilities in Jackson, Mississippi. Consequently, we developed and implemented our Workforce Development initiative to create solutions to address the escalating shortage of the skilled workforce in this industry. We have built bridges between our client’s facilities and the surrounding communities to establish a skilled workforce pipeline that will supply anticipated industry demand for all career levels from entry level through upper management. We achieved this goal by addressing skill gaps, developing training opportunities and fostering strong communication between the needs of the organization and the ability of the workforce and community to drive not only economic growth, but a stronger more vibrant organization and community.
Results
In 2016, Slater Infrastructure Group established a two-faceted internship program that provides its interns with meaningful work experiences to prepare them for careers in the water/wastewater industry. The objective of this year-round internship program is to provide hands-on exposure to complex assignments and prepare interns for positions in this industry. As a result, these assignments have equipped interns with theoretical and practical knowledge that will propel them to launch long term careers.
To better meet the changing needs of the Jackson facilities, we broadened our outreach beyond academia to include the local job-seeking workforce. By participation in our program, participants receive opportunities for paid on-the-job training as they are introduced to the wastewater industry as full-time careers. On this premise, we have expanded our network to include Workforce Development organizations that serve Jackson and the surrounding communities. The caliber of candidates from the local workforce has been so strong that Veolia leadership has hired several applicants directly as full-time permanent employees in addition to selecting others to fill the intern positions.
As our program has grown more robust throughout the years, we remain pleased with its escalating success to date and feel confident that we are not only meeting but exceeding our established contractual objectives, while providing more opportunities for minorities and women in the industry. Due to the success of this Workforce Development initiative, other clients have expressed interest in utilizing this program for their facilities, as well.
