Reader Profile—Darin Bishop

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 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.

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. 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.