Alyson Watson is our first non-utility CEO guest, and she lends her perspective from the private sector. Alyson is the CEO of Woodard and Curran, a planning, funding, engineering, construction and O&M (operations and maintenance) organization.

Alyson talks about three big trends in the water industry: resiliency, the switch from an extraction to a creation economy, and ESG (environmental and social governance).  These trends include climate change, viewing nothing as waste, and water equity.

Water customers now have access to data they never saw before.  Sometimes, they even see more than the utility companies. This necessitates a need for increased communication between all parties involved.

Mahesh and Alyson talk about the differences between running a regional and a national organization - Alyson has done both.

Woodard and Curran partner with their public and private clients, sometimes testing out ideas with private clients that can be translated to the public ones.

As far as investment in the future, Watson believes there are unprecedented funding opportunities in the water and wastewater areas.  But the biggest investments will be in people.

Mahesh and Alyson talk about the new workforce and the challenges of maintaining work-from-home flexibility but still fostering company culture and relationships between employees.  This also relates to the labor market, and not just recruiting for Woodard and Curran, but also for the water industry as a whole.

Finally, we talk about the place for new innovation in the industry, and what Alyson would like to leave behind as a legacy.

More:

Woodard and Curran Website: https://www.woodardcurran.com/

Alyson Watson Bio: https://www.woodardcurran.com/people/alyson-watson/

Aquasight Website: https://aquasight.io/

Aquasight Website: https://aquasight.io/