A Personal Testimonial — The Value of WWEMA
By Mark Turpin
My first WWEMA meeting was 10 years ago. I was new to the water and wastewater market at that time, but was confident it would be much like other markets I’d been a part of. That didn’t turn out to be the case. The municipal segment in particular was quite confusing, and well-meaning offers from manufacturers’ representatives left me wondering who they were and why they were trying to help. At the same time, it seemed my colleagues were fatigued with training new people, and I imagined they were resistant to “hand-holding” another new guy. So I walked into WWEMA’s Annual Meeting hoping to unravel a few mysteries concerning the municipal space; as it turned out, I walked away with much more.
Water and Wastewater Equipment Manufacturers’ Association (WWEMA) meetings are intimate, with around a hundred manufacturers, reps, media, and other industry specialists in attendance. The Association holds four major meetings each year on policy, finance, operations, and industry trends. Two of these meetings involve the full membership. Each April, our members get together in Washington D.C for The Washington Forum on Policy (this year’s Washington Forum agenda can be found at http://www.wwema.org/washingtonforum.php). The Annual Meeting is held in November and focuses on operational topics.
Connecting with other industry leaders was the most impactful part of my first meeting. The combination of presentations, roundtable workshops, panel discussions, and networking events made getting to know people very easy. While that first experience was not contrived, it was also not accidental. WWEMA’s stated purpose is to advocate, inform, and connect.
WWEMA is the only advocate solely dedicated to the interest of water and wastewater technology providers, offering members a level of influence no single company could achieve on its own. Legislation, regulations, and enforcement can create or impede business opportunities, and volatility is often even more destructive to business interests than inaction. WWEMA is the voice of the water and wastewater manufacturer’s interest both on Capitol Hill and with the Administration. The organization offers expert advice to legislators and policymakers while advocating for members. Beyond this general advocacy, individual member companies also depend on the Association’s concierge service for business-specific information and assistance on topics ranging from American Iron and Steel to policy and enforcement.
WWEMA keeps members informed, and offers exclusive educational opportunities on topics of specific interest to manufacturers. WWEMA leads with events, products, and services including conferences, programs, market research, industry surveys, webinars, and relevant weekly communications to help members track and engage in legislative, regulatory, and policy initiatives, and to monitor and track industry trends and market opportunities. The members-only section of the WWEMA website offers market intelligence, member bulletins and newsletters, industry-related reports, meeting presentations, legislative/regulatory updates, industry articles, and more.
I personally find the most valuable part of WWEMA to be the membership. Many of these industry leaders and influencers have become personal friends over the years, and I’ve grown beyond measure from being around them. Of course, the reader of this article cannot truly know the value of the Association from my experiences. To know the value of WWEMA, you would need to be present when our full membership gets together. Fortunately, WWEMA extends an invitation to do just that. If you would like to experience a WWEMA meeting for yourself, contact Vanessa Leiby at Vanessa@WWEMA.org. I’ll look forward to meeting you and introducing you to our members.
Mark Turpin is President of Duperon Corporation, located in Saginaw, MI, and Immediate Past Chair of the Water and Wastewater Equipment Manufacturers Association (WWEMA). Duperon is a leader in simple, adaptive screening technologies and provides solutions for coarse screening, fine screening, low flow screening, ultra screening, and waste washing, compacting, and conveying. WWEMA is a non-profit trade association founded in 1908. WWEMA’s vision is to be the “voice of water and wastewater technology providers” and its mission is to promote the advancement of technology solutions for clean water that ensures a future sustainable environment and to improve its members’ economic viability. More information about WWEMA can be found at www.wwema.org.