Sep 12
18
StepWise Officially Joins MWH Global
We are proud to announce today that StepWise Utility Advisors has merged with MWH Global, a worldwide leader in the water and wastewater industry. Our team of experts will expand MWH Global’s services in financial and commercial consulting. The national press release is included below and you can follow the link to the MWH Global website for more information.
Yes, it is.
This from Governing Magazine in an excellent introspective written by Neil Howe:
The consequences of this quantitative population shift are dramatic and sweeping. First and foremost, of course, health-care consumption will skyrocket, along with massive spending increases in federal entitlement programs like Social Security and Medicare. As retirement-age boomers begin to move out of the workforce, there will be a depressing effect on employment, production, revenues and GDP. Consumption rates will increase, while savings rates will fall. Public capital investments in areas such as training, education and work-related infrastructure will likely decline. [emphasis added by blogger]
Here is a link to the full article.
If you consider that we are currently at approximately $3 trillion in underfunded water and sewer infrastructure (US Conference of Mayors) and the above prediction (which is similar to several others out there) calls for a decrease in GDP, then one might conclude that public infrastructure will be competing even more for increasingly limited public dollars.
StepWise Utility Advisors is pleased to announce that Fernando Aranda has been invited as a workshop presenter for the 5th Annual WaterSmart Innovations Conference and Exposition held this year on October 3-5 in Las Vegas, NV (conference web site). His paper Conservation Measures – How the City of Santa Fe Achieved Water Conservation While Maintaining Sound Financial Performance , will discuss the remarkable case of Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Jun 12
14
StepWise’s ACE 2012 Presentation
We were delighted to attend this year’s AWWA national conference and exposition in Dallas, TX! On Wednesday morning, Jason Mumm and Fletcher Davis of StepWise Utility Advisors gave a presentation on utility regionalization and its potential for addressing the “affordability challenge“. The presentation was given as part of a larger session entitled “Leadership Forum: Bringing It All Together – A Discussion of the Challenges & Opportunities Facing the Water Sector.” Our presentation demonstrates affordability as a growing challenge for the water industry and offers utility consolidation (or regionalization) as a potential solution to reduce water rates by achieving economies of scale. We also cautioned the attendees that consolidation is not a panacea in every case: certain factors can wreck the desired cost savings and it’s important to know where those problems lie before diving into a merger. Enjoy the presentation below and call us if you’d like to talk more about how StepWise is leading the industry in our thinking on regional partnerships.
I spent the morning touring the expo hall here in Dallas for the AWWA Annual Conference – ACE 2012. I like spending time on the expo floor because the world’s water industry is there showcasing its latest and greatest innovations and services. You can learn a lot by being here. One of the things I’ve noticed this year is the wide trend in two areas: 1) in smart metering and related technology to improve the efficiency of water transmission and distribution; and 2) prioritization and/or optimization of infrastructure replacement. Many of the vendors are moving in to both areas. Both of these trends show a recognition by the industry that cost pressures are starting to take hold, and they are doing what they can to offer solutions.
I’ll be on Twitter while I’m here in Dallas, you can follow me @jgmumm or use the #ace12 hashtag.
Don’t forget to visit us today at 2pm for our first of two presentations. Today, we talk about the complexities of regional partnerships and finding equitable cost-sharing solutions. On Wednesday, we will provide some examples of how regionalization can offer the potential for reduced costs and lower rates for many communities.
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