FWRJ READER PROFILE What does your job entail? My job includes the following: S Coordinate and maintain communications with association memberships. S General administration duties. S Coordinate and implement marketing strategies. S Provide support to FWPCOA training officers. S Administrate the FWPCOA membership program.
Darin Bishop
Florida Water and Pollution Control Operators Association, Palm Beach Gardens Work title and years of service: I’ve been an administrator in the industry for 24 years.
What education and training have you had? I have a bachelor’s degree from Florida Atlantic University and a master’s in business administration from Colorado Technical University. What do you like best about your job? I like working behind the scenes, figuring out what is and isn’t working, and then moving on it. The FWPCOA has given
Darin (right) and his dad.
42 November 2020 • Florida Water Resources Journal
me great latitude to work with every part of our organization to help ensure a smooth operation. What professional organizations do you belong to? I belong to FWPCOA. How has the organization helped your career? The FWPCOA is my career (and a huge part of my life). My first short school was in 1979, when I was three. My dad (Rim Bishop) let me tag along to a water treatment plant operator course he was teaching at Palm Beach Technical College, now Palm Beach State College. A few years later, I was hired to help convert the association’s old paper files to a computerized database. In the decades since, my role expanded to its current state. What do you like best about the industry? I have a long, unusual relationship with the industry. When I was born I lived in a trailer at the water plant at the Village of Wellington (called Alme at the time). I learned to walk the plant and I went through my first hurricane (David) there. Although I’ve spent my entire adult life working for FWPCOA, I’ve never worked for a utility. In fact, for about 15 years I swore Van Halen was going to ask me to join the band. But as the call was slow to come in, life happened. I got older, cut my hair, and decided that jumping off of amplifiers wasn’t for me. I wanted to help people in some fashion. After searching for a bit, I saw what was directly in front of me: the water/wastewater industry. It’s the single most important industry on the planet. If we don’t perform as a collective, then moms waking up at 3 a.m. to give their babies a bottle don’t have what they need. I love being a spoke in the wheel that makes that happen. What do you do when you’re not working? I have three girls, and their lives occupy most of my spare time. Shuttling them around the universe is my hobby. However, in those seven to eight minutes a week where they aren’t in my face, I enjoy music— concerts, collecting records, and exploring new musicians.
