MILWAUKEE, Wis. – Leaders of The Water Council and Veolia North America (VNA) signed an agreement today to launch a Water & Wastewater Workforce Center in Milwaukee to grow the local water workforce, increase the pool of diverse talent and address workforce challenges. They also agreed to collaborate to advance new water and energy technologies to support Wisconsin’s Water + Energy Forward Engine.
Although the water sector offers a steady supply of family-supporting jobs, it faces an aging workforce and struggles to attract, train and retain new workers. The Water & Wastewater Workforce Center will address challenges such as training and education, outreach, diversity and inclusion, upskilling and other workforce barriers.
“As water challenges related to climate change accelerate, a skilled, diverse water workforce is more crucial than ever,” said Fred Van Heems, Veolia North America president and CEO. “The lessons we learn in Milwaukee will not only build up the workforce locally but can also be applied around the world.”
VNA is a contract partner with the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District (MMSD) to operate and maintain its regional wastewater treatment system. It’s one of the nation's largest wastewater partnerships, serving over 1 million people in 29 municipalities.
Earlier this year, VNA designated Milwaukee as its first North American “Ecofactory” in partnership with MMSD and the city of Milwaukee. An Ecofactory maximizes the value of materials produced at a wastewater treatment system such as reclaimed water and heat, optimizes processes to operate as efficiently as possible and incorporates environmental and community stewardship.
“Milwaukee is known as a World Water Hub, and the work of Veolia North America and its partnership with MMSD is a major reason why,” said Dean Amhaus, president and CEO of The Water Council. “We’re proud to deepen our relationship with VNA and collaborate on the critical issues of workforce and water technology.”
Collaboration Adds Momentum to Regional Innovation Engine
The agreement supports the Water + Energy Forward Engine (W+E Forward), a consortium of Wisconsin universities, businesses and nonprofit organizations led by The Water Council addressing water, energy and waste challenges for small- and medium-sized manufacturers and utilities in Wisconsin. The Water Council and its partners received $1 million from the National Science Foundation in 2023 to develop this regional innovation engine and is now seeking a Launch Award of up to $160 million over 10 years.
As part of the agreement, Veolia will work with The Water Council and W+E Forward on research, translation and technology development such as new approaches for sludge management and biosolids, improved methods for capturing energy from waste streams (e.g. biogas) and enhanced efficiencies in water treatment and energy management.
Milwaukee Mayor Cavalier Johnson, who attended the signing, observed the agreement comes weeks after the White House announced a Workforce Hub designation for Milwaukee to train new workers for infrastructure projects, including the removal of lead drinking water pipes.
“Whether it’s the White House or an international corporation like Veolia, attention is being paid to the water opportunities in Milwaukee,” Johnson said. “Today’s announcement is a tremendous demonstration of my efforts to build public and private partnerships to support workforce development efforts that will provide family-supporting jobs while also growing the talent available to strengthen Milwaukee’s water infrastructure and water technology hub.”
Johnson also expressed support for the W+E Forward application to NSF.
“This is a huge opportunity to demonstrate the water and energy innovation happening in Wisconsin and support our smaller manufacturers and utilities,” he said.
Dave Ross, VNA’s chief sustainability officer, will join W+E Forward’s leadership team, which includes representatives from Rockwell Automation, Microsoft, MKE Tech Hub Coalition, Marquette University, University of Wisconsin-Madison, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and other organizations with strong Wisconsin ties.
“These partnerships demonstrate that Wisconsin is the perfect place to discover and nurture new water and energy technologies to help small and medium-sized manufacturers and utilities thrive in a sustainable economy,” Amhaus said. “We’re thrilled to see the support for our Water + Energy Forward Engine and excited to see how it grows.”