A Major Water Stewardship announcement, export info & more
By Dean Amhaus, President & CEO
The Water Council is off and quickly running in 2022. Two weeks ago, we announced a new exciting partnership with SCS Global Services, a leader in third-party verification, to improve corporate water stewardship outcomes and reporting. This partnership allows us to help any company in the world move beyond traditional water management to credible and verified water stewardship that addresses enterprise-wide challenges and opportunities.
If you read our newsletter regularly, you know I’ve been dropping hints about our new water stewardship program for months. After two years of research, development and testing, we will soon make the larger public announcement of the program. One company that piloted the program said, “There’s always been a gap in a formalized process or program for companies to understand and accelerate their pathway into water stewardship, and the TWC program worked for us.”
There is frankly a lot to unpack with this exciting program, so I’d like to personally invite you, as one of our loyal subscribers, to an advance informational webinar Feb. 2 at 10 a.m. CST to introduce the WAVE program and explain how it can help companies like yours.
Export Resources Webinar
Recently I met with the acting president of the Export-Import Bank of the U.S. (EXIM) and learned that water tech companies may not be aware they can access EXIM funding for projects as low as $3,500 or that engineering firms might obtain support for service contracts. I realized that we needed to get this information to our members, so we are conducting an exclusive export webinar Feb. 9 for members and partners of The Water Council.
This webinar will feature a presentation from EXIM and helpful information from the Wisconsin Manufacturing Extension Partnership and Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation. Contact Laura Mullen, member engagement manager, to register. These webinars are one of many benefits we offer to members of The Water Council.
Innovation Update
Innovation is on the fast track as well! BREW 2.0 applications just wrapped up this past weekend, with nearly 40 submissions from 11 countries. Applications will now be advanced to our team of industry experts for review and judging. We’ll introduce you to the next stellar cohort in a future newsletter. We are grateful to Beckhoff Automation and Thales Water Advisors for their support of the program.
We also are preparing to announce the winners of our fall 2021 Tech Challenge, sponsored by A. O. Smith, Badger Meter, Watts Water Technologies and Xylem. Watch for that news soon.
Welcome New Members
The year has also started off strong for membership, particularly our new Water Champion program, which allows non-water tech organizations to support our mission to drive freshwater innovation and advance water stewardship. We welcome these new Water Champions:
We also welcome new members of The Water Council:
Welcome to the hub where water works! We look forward to a productive 2022.
Member News & Opportunities
- News: Zurn Water Solutions joins the UN Global Compact Initiative.
- News: Joel Brennan named new president of Greater Milwaukee Committee.
- News: ecoSPEARS first in Europe to pilot sediment remediation technology developed by NASA.
- News: Kohler expands in clean energy management with acquisition.
- News: Xylem and Isle Utilities partner to help water utilities pilot and scale innovative water technology.
- News: Michael Best expands in North Carolina via acquisition.
- Event: The World Water-Tech Innovation Summit is happening Feb. 22-23 in London and online. The summit offers two action-packed days of powerful connections and deep market insights on the future of water. Our CEO, Dean Amhaus, will moderate the session “The Impact of Transforming China’s Urban Centers Into ‘Sponge Cities.’” Use code TWC10 for discounted registration.
- Event: WI Salt Wise is holding a week of YouTube livestreams Jan. 24-28 for WI Salt Awareness Week about the impacts of over-salting on freshwater resources and ways you can reduce salt usage.
- Opportunity: The Wisconsin Governor’s Business Plan Contest is now open for applications. Abstracts are due Jan. 31.
- Opportunity: The Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District invites organizations planning to install green infrastructure on their property to apply for partnership funding.
- Opportunity: Wisconsin Manufacturing Extension Partnership is accepting applications for ExporTech, a 12-week program to help Wisconsin manufacturers create an export expansion strategy. The deadline has been extended through Feb. 9.
- Opportunity: The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is seeking applications for research to accelerate innovative wastewater treatment technologies in lagoon/pond systems serving small communities.
