Utility Management

How Maine hires military veterans to fill workforce gaps

March 8, 2024

With one of the oldest water workforces in the nation, Maine is making it easier for military veterans to enter the water workforce with professional certifications and stable careers.

Bob Crossen

Workforce is an underlying problem facing water utilities and companies across the United States, and Maine is leading the charge on developing programs to entice military veterans to an industry where their skills dovetail with the needs of treatment plants.

Travis Peaslee, Lewiston Auburn Water Pollution Control Authority general manager; Emily Cole Prescott, President of Maine Water Environment Association; and Dustin Price, chief operator of Portland water district, explain why the program came to be and how it is evolving to address the state's water workforce challenges.

Find professional development opportunities in New England on the New England Water Environment Association website.
Learn more about Maine Water Environment Association's professional development opportunities, including Water Warriors for military veterans.

Utility Management

Maine’s clean water workforce is one of the oldest in America

Jan. 30, 2024

With the average age of an operator in Maine’s clean water industry eight years above the national average, the state is looking to count veterans’ military experience to start...

He says this is the best workforce development tool for water

Utility Management

The most important workforce development tool for water

Oct. 24, 2023

WEF Operations Challenge Chair Jeff Sober makes the case for why the Operations Challenge is the most important tool for workforce development in the water industry.

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About the Author

Bob Crossen

Bob Crossen is the editorial director for the Endeavor Business Media Water Group, which publishes WaterWorld, Wastewater Digest and Stormwater Solutions. Crossen graduated from Illinois State University in Dec. 2011 with a Bachelor of Arts in German and a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism. He worked for Campbell Publications, a weekly newspaper company in rural Illinois outside St. Louis for four years as a reporter and regional editor.