All Aboard the Polar Express!
The Water Authority participated in not one, but TWO Christmas parades this year. With the addition of the Town of Vinton to our service area, the Polar Express made its 2022 debut in the Downtown Vinton Christmas Parade on December 1. With over 95 entries for the judges to choose from, the Polar Express won second place in the non-religious category! It was a wonderful collaboration of our different divisions to bring this float to life for another holiday season
The Downtown Roanoke Dicken's of a Christmas Parade was held on Friday, Dec. 9. After a rainy and gloomy week, we were fortunate to have a clear night for the parade With more than 40 Authority employees and family members, we had a full train car for the parade! Our float won second place and was featured live on WZBJ news. Thank you to our crew and volunteers for making these two parades a great success.
Dates Food Drive Deadline - Dec. 15 Christmas Holiday Observed - Dec. 26 New Years Day Observed - Jan. 2 WVWA Blood Drive - Jan. 6
Upcoming
December 2022
Newsletter for Employees & Families of the Western Virginia Water Authority
As 2022 is coming to a close, I want to express my deep appreciation to each of you for your commitment to our customers. It has been a difficult few years and each of you continue to navigate equipment and material shortages, cost increases and employee vacancies with patience and creativity. Through your efforts, the Authority has accomplished a great deal – onboarding the Town of Vinton utilities, increased capital construction, new development requests and watershed challenges at Spring Hollow to name a few. I hope each of you has a joyous holiday season with family and friends and a special thanks to all employees who will be working shifts or on standby during the Christmas and New Years holiday weekends.
The core value for December is:
Neil Norris
Neil wears many hats for the organization. In addition to his responsibilities as HR Director, he handles logistics for the building maintenance projects at the Coulter building. Neil also helps out with career fairs and IDEA team events. His behind the scenes work on the compensation study has been exemplary, and he is constantly looking out for the good of the WVWA staff.
by Steve Nichols Mike McEvoy Executive Director
Jennifer Meeks
Jennifer is a great resource in Finance and is always willing to provide assistance or pursue answers on questions from operating divisions across the Authority.
Nominated by Scott Shirley
Connor WomackHe is always ready to provide help anywhere that it's needed, anytime of the day!
Nominated by Jac Dustin
Rebecca is consistently going above and beyond to support the Customer Service, Billing and Collections team She is always finding ways to help create new and simpler processes, train on existing processes and help find ways to make the customer experience better. She is always willing to step in and assist with other departments when they are short staffed, often times being pulled in multiple directions and still effectively doing her job She has been such an asset to me and my team and the level of service she provides is STELLAR
Travis Lane has invested years into becoming our internal expert on the Authority water distribution network and associated systems. Not only has Travis developed this knowledge, but he has mentored, trained, and developed a significant number of Authority employees Behind the scenes, when a complex downgrading incident happens at 2:00 am, Travis is frequently the person who is figuring out how and where to shift water to minimize impacts to customers
Greg Honeycutt
Greg is ALWAYS going the extra mile to ensure the water being sent to customers via his systems is nothing but the highest quality Always conscious of maintaining all of his equipment to ensure peak performance. Greg oversees many systems and never lets tough circumstances get the best of him Greg is The Shining Example for Service in our division period.
Nominated by Cameron Preast Nominated Nominated by Scott Shirley Travis Lane Tiffany Cumbee Fellow employees,A Message From Our Director
Nominated by Kathleen Johnson
Rebecca Harding
DECEMBER 2022 ANNOUNCEMENTS & EMPLOYEE BENEFIT HIGHLIGHT The Segal study looked at how we allocate resources. New job descriptions and clear career ladders will provide pathways to Develop employees. Increased salaries will provide more value for skills, knowledge & experience in each position Retain to the best talent Recruit the best talent at a competitive wage. 2022 Compensation & Classification Study Prior to December 23, each employee will receive a personalized salary letter, a copy of the new pay plan, and have the opportunity to view a WebEx presentation that explains the new Pay Plan Study. Salary increases to reflect the market competitiveness of WVWA job classifications will start in the December 23 paycheck. December23,2022 The Authority will address compression issues by increasing salaries based on years in a position. July2023-July2024 Great news, the Board of Directors approved to move forward with the new Segal recommended pay plan and job classifications over the next several fiscal years to help Recruit | Develop | Retain the best employees! 8 Ways to Save for 8 Ways to Save for Your Future Your Future What Are You Here is a word cloud showing what Water Authority employees are grateful for this holiday season. for? Participate or increase contributions in the 457 plan and receive max WVWA match to the 401 plan Hybrid Employees participate in the voluntary contributions and receive WVWA match Participate in an Individual Retirement Account (IRA) High Deductible Health Plan participants – participate or increase contributions in your Health Savings Account and max the match from WVWA Open a savings account and contribute through payroll deduction Set an achievable financial savings goal Keep your saving funds separate from your everyday account Start an emergency fund 1 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.
Congratulations! Achieved His Class I Wastewater Operator License
Anoteofthanksfromacustomer
Mr. McEvoy, I just want to commend some of your employees on their work on the major 4 or 5 day water outage we had on Carolina Avenue and Hemlock Avenue this past weekend and early week
They were all so polite, knowledgeable, professional and doing their upmost to get our water restored They worked all night long Monday trying to find and fix the problem. I cannot emphasize what a great attitude they had during this whole ordeal in spite of the long hours worked.
I just want to convey my gratitude for such hard work, determination and great attitude I know the Water Authority must also be grateful for these kind of stellar employees
Nov.
16, 2022:
et Our Fleet & Safety Coordinator
u may recognize this miliar face! Steve has been h the Authority since July 2010 and recently nsitioned from OTS ordinator in Water Quality duction to Fleet and ety Coordinator in ober of this year.
en asked about his new ition, he said, "I'm king to maximize the rent fleet by matching appropriate vehicles to appropriate positions " is also very focused on t safety and training for WA employees
Water Lessons "To Go"!
The Public Relations team is not only in the classrooms this year, but also offering "To Go" education kits for grade K-2 and helping guide teachers to have meaningful self-led field trips at Carvins Cove Reservoir. This way, we can reach more students while still having time to meet all the WVWA employees' needs!
The field trip was great, and the students had a blast. I can't thank you enough for working with the scheduling and accommodating our school. It was definitely a 5-star trip all the way around.
2nd Grade Teacher, Garden City Elementary
DECEMBER 2022 RECOGNITION & EDUCATION OUTREACH
Scott Wilburn
The
lesson was a wonderful
to our
Dianas Kindergarten
24,774,075milesdrivensincetheWater Authoritywasformed 201vehiclescurrentlyactiveintheFleet FunFleetFacts! 83totaltrailersutilizedbytheFleet
"to go"
addition
water education We had fun! Chris
Teacher, Westside Elementary
Students at Virginia Tech & VMI got a special tour of the Roanoke
Control Plant and SCADA systems with Sarah
(Director of Public Relations) and Stephen Lofaro (SCADA Network
first-hand knowledge for
researching
I finally achieved what I have been trying to achieve since I started operating. This has been a five year process! I look forward to learning new things and specializing in my knowledge. security
Regional Water Pollution
Baumgardner
Manager). This visit helped students gain
a joint research grant between VMI and Virginia Tech,
cyber
and the water treatment process.
TEVE NICHOLS
ERIC POWERS
Growing Our Own
Celebrating National Apprenticeship Week
November 14 - 20
The Registered High School Student Apprenticeship Program began in 2018 as an educational and career opportunity for rising high school juniors and seniors. At the time, we were the only business in the Roanoke Valley to offer this program, but it has since grown and multiple businesses in the Valley are now involved.
Cameron Preast is a Class I Water Treatment Operator for the Authority and was part of the first class of apprentice students. When asked about his experience in the program, he said, "It was a great opportunity for someone as young as I was, 16-17 years old, to be getting into a career that is future oriented and has so much potential for growth. I've been in this field now for five years and I'm only 21 years old."
Since 2018, we have had 24 students go through the Apprenticeship Program, 10 of whom have been hired for full-time positions Two of our graduates are currently in supervisory roles
Robyn Tuck, Learning and Development Coordinator, has taken on this program since Mike Altizer's retirement in early November. She said, "Our trainers here are a critical piece to the success of this program. Their commitment to helping the students be successful and really watching out for their safety has been a crucial part to the program."
Daquan McGeorge is a senior at Patrick Henry High School and has been completing his rotation at Wastewater. He expressed how he finds value in this program, "Outside is definitely better than sitting inside in a classroom. I like doing hands-on work, and I feel like I'm getting a head start."
Daquan has been mentored by David McGee, OTS Coordinator at Wastewater David and the OTS team have been very involved in the training of our apprenticeship students during their rotations at Wastewater He said, "Not only are we taking care of our customers, but we also are showing personal interest in the younger generation, too."
We want to give a special thank you to our staff and education partners for contributing to the success of this program, and we look forward to continuing to develop the future leaders in this industry!
Above: Oct. 2017 Cameron Preast working in the lab at Spring Hollow.
Right: Nov. 2022 Preast is now a Class I Water Treatment Operator.
Nov.
To learn more about this program, scan to watch our video
DECEMBER 2022 NATIONAL APPRENTICESHIP WEEK
2022: David McGee (right) mentoring student apprentice, Daquan McGeorge (left) at the Water Pollution Control Plant.
May 20, 2022: Apprenticeship Showcase and Signing Day at the Salem Red Sox stadium. From left to right: Jaron Haley, Daquan McGeorge, Melody Campbell, Mike Altizer.