expanding our water technology cluster
By Dean Amhaus, President & CEO
The Water Council got our start supporting water technology businesses in Milwaukee’s World Water Hub, and that remains the heart of our mission today. So it was humbling and gratifying to learn recently that we have been awarded a $2.5 million Regional Innovation Cluster (RIC) award from the U.S. Small Business Administration to continue building on that foundation as a mature innovation cluster.
This is the second time we have received the RIC award. In 2014, the SBA awarded us an “emerging cluster” contract allowing us, among other things, to hire Karen Frost, our vice president of economic development and innovation. She is owed much of the credit for building up our innovation programming and for this successful SBA application.
We will continue building our programming with this award, with enhanced offerings in our BREW 2.0 Post-Accelerator, matchmaking and training, customized support and resources for small business, capacity-building, access to new market resources and support for EU companies seeking to build or expand their US presence.
To help us in that work, we are seeking to fill a new position, Innovation Program Director. If you have experience managing programs and working with startups, you might be the person for this role. Please share the posting far and wide.
nexus sustainability leaders summit
Meanwhile, we are days away from our first Nexus Sustainability Leaders Summit, happening in Milwaukee on Oct. 29 and 30. The Water Council and Marquette University are teaming up for a conference on corporate sustainability, water and energy resiliency, and stewardship.
We’re excited to announce Karen Dettmer, U.S. director of water resources at Ramboll, as a featured panelist. Karen recently served as managing director for infrastructure implementation at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Water and previously as superintendent of Milwaukee Water Works. She is stepping in for Radhika Fox, who unfortunately can’t attend due to a family emergency.
We’ve also recently added speakers Chad Steighner, chief digital and information officer at Clarios; Charles Hua, the founder and executive director of energy nonprofit PowerLines; and Jenny Oorbeck, co-founder and managing partner of Fresh Coast Climate Solutions.
Registration is filling up quickly. Secure your spot for this year’s summit now.
We’d like to thank our sponsors for this event, including platinum sponsors A. O. Smith Corporation and Watts Water Technologies and gold sponsors Badger Meter, Baird, Deloitte and Xylem.
W+E Forward
We continue to build our Water + Energy Forward Engine as we await the results of our pre-proposal to the National Science Foundation, working toward our goal of securing up to $160 million over 10 years. Our Engine is a consortium of 50+ organizations addressing the water-energy-waste nexus at small and medium-sized manufacturers and wastewater utilities in Wisconsin and beyond.
We held an extremely productive in-person workshop with our engine leaders a couple weeks ago as we refine the value proposition for our engine. And after a successful community meeting in Milwaukee to discuss diversity and inclusion for the engine, we now have meetings scheduled in Madison on Oct. 22 and Appleton on Oct. 23. Please spread the word with your contacts in these areas!
Finally, we held valuable conversations around the engine at WEFTEC last week. Our discussion about building up the water workforce, including the work of our new Water & Wastewater Workforce Center with Veolia North America, was covered in this informative article from Water Technology magazine.
innovation update
The Oct. 28 deadline is approaching quickly for our fall Tech Challenge. This round focuses on the sensing, treatment and removal of microplastics and nanoplastics.
Finalists will be chosen to present their innovations to sponsors and compete for a top prize of $10,000, with the potential to collaborate with sponsoring companies’ R&D teams. We are grateful to our sponsors A. O. Smith, Badger Meter and Watts Water Technologies.
Also coming up, applications for our BREW 2.0 Post-Accelerator will open on Oct. 21. Late-stage, scale-up water tech companies from anywhere in the world are welcome to apply!
BREW 2.0 is a post-accelerator created to help young companies build connections and grow their company’s capacity. Participants receive guidance on marketing, sales strategy and commercialization while gaining access to The Water Council’s extensive network of water technology professionals.
BREW participants see solid results from the program. For example, we just announced that a member of the 2024 cohort, GKinetic Energy of Ireland, will expand to the U.S. by way of our headquarters, the Global Water Center in Milwaukee.
As we mentioned, our BREW program is growing thanks to our SBA award, so stay tuned for more details. BREW 2.0 is made possible by Beckhoff Automation, Thales Water Advisors and Xylem.
water stewardship
Congratulations to Clearwater Paper as the latest company to become WAVE verified! Verification through our WAVE program accelerates strategic water stewardship action within organizations of all sizes and industries.
We recently hosted a webinar discussing the EU’s new sustainability reporting requirements and how they are driving reporting on water and biodiversity. If you missed the event, check out the recording below.
We are all Milwaukee Bucks fans around here, so we were excited earlier this month to attend the announcement of Wilo Group as the first Global Sustainability Partner of the Bucks and their home arena, Fiserv Forum.
Wilo is a multinational supplier of pumps and pump systems based in Germany, with U.S. headquarters in the Milwaukee area. The announcement was especially timely as Wilo USA has just become a member of The Water Council!
new members
In addition to Wilo, this month we welcome new members Servyeco of Spain and Milo’s Tea Company of Alabama. Welcome to the hub Where Water Works!
Speaking of members, we are holding member luncheons in November at our headquarters in Milwaukee. These are great opportunities to network with members and learn about our latest initiatives. Please contact Laura Mullen if you’re interested in attending.
member news & opportunities
- News: A. O. Smith creating 300 jobs with Mexico plant expansion.
- News: Energy Tech Innovations (ETI) launches new website.
- News: Hospital hit by Hurricane Milton uses Genesis Systems device to grab water from air.
- News: Aquacycl launches new product, SulfideFix, for hydrogen sulfide removal.
- News: Meijer recognized by EPA for having GreenChill program’s lowest refrigerant emissions rate.
- Jobs: Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative seeks a U.S. Policy Manager to manage the U.S. side of the Mayors Commission on Water Equity and support other water-equity policy efforts.
- Jobs: Veolia North America seeks a Workforce Development Manager to advance career opportunities in the water sector and empower key communities in Milwaukee and across the U.S. This position is part of the newly announced Water & Wastewater Workforce Center, a collaboration between Veolia and The Water Council.
- Jobs: CIS seeks an Associate Director of Climate Solutions to lead analyses and reviews and author work across a diverse portfolio of water and climate policy and planning initiatives.
- Events: The Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts & Letters is holding a virtual and in-person talk on Birds & Water on Oct. 20 at the Urban Ecology Center in Milwaukee, featuring speakers from Community Water Services and the International Crane Foundation.
- Events: The Wisconsin Sustainable Business Council Conference is Nov. 12-13 in Milwaukee.
- Event: The Empowering Pumps & Industry Conference is Nov. 12-13 in Golden, Colorado.
- Events: The Wisconsin Technology Council’s Early Stage Symposium is Nov. 13-14 in Madison, Wisconsin.
- Event: The U.S. Commercial Service is holding its next U.S. Environmental Technologies Market Intelligence Webinar on India on Dec. 4.