Rural Water awarded Business Partnership Award
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At a recent Land of Lincoln Workforce Innovation Board Awards banquet held in Springfield, Illinois Rural Water Association, based in Taylorville, was awarded the Business Partnership Award.
Land of Lincoln Workforce Alliance began a partnership with the Illinois Rural Water Association after a referral from Illinois Department of Human Services – Rehabilitation Services.
This project helped start a Water and Wastewater Systems Operations Specialist Apprenticeship program with five water systems in Central Illinois. The water industry is unique in that it involves the daily responsibilities of public health protection, technical operations, and maintenance of critical but unseen infrastructure.
It takes more than 380,000 highly skilled water and wastewater personnel to ensure the public supply of safe drinking water and to protect lakes, streams and groundwater. Advancements in water treatment and supply technology have increased the skills and training required of individuals in this industry.
Water professionals are ultimately responsible for meeting stringent regulatory standards, replacing aging infrastructure, recruiting and training new operations specialists, and responding to and recovering from disaster.
Jeff Tumiati, the Apprenticeship Coordinator for the Illinois Water Association said, “There is such a workforce shortage, and this program has impacted each local community greatly because in two and half years each participating community will have a Water/Wastewater Specialist that can handle the operations of their facilities and the supporting infrastructure.”
In addition to increasing professional demands, utilities will soon be forced to replace many of their most experienced employees. Over the next decade, the water sector is expected to lose between 30 and 50 percent of the workforce due to retirement. Many of these employees have worked at the same facility for most of their careers and they will depart with decades of valuable institutional knowledge.
“Partnering with the workforce system is overall a great deal,” Tumiati said. “This project impacted the apprentices in each community with financial help and resources that we did not otherwise know about. Also, Land of Lincoln Workforce Alliance was very easy to work with and helped whenever we needed assistance.”
This project is the perfect example of what the local workforce areas do throughout the State. This apprenticeship program has led to the training and employment of five full-time Water Systems Operation Specialists with another seven apprentices slated to come on board at the first of the year. The Systems they work for are currently being reimbursed for 90% of their training and educational costs, all due to partnering with Land of Lincoln Workforce Alliance. This will not only impact communities in Central Illinois but also statewide for many years to come.
