For want of a nail, the shoe was lost,
For want of a shoe, the horse was lost,
For want of a horse, the rider was lost,
For want of a rider, the battle was lost,
For want of a battle, the kingdom was lost,
All for the want of a horseshoe nail.
~ Old English Proverb
I spend a lot of my time asking our network’s members for their help. Will you jump on this Zoom call with me to speak with a community that needs our help? Will you fill out this survey? Will you join this committee? Will you help teach this course? Will you …
I’m so grateful that my requests almost always get a response and the answer is almost always “yes.” The expertise our members bring to these efforts is enormous and they matter much more than you think.
Take, for example, our Maintenance Workforce Development Task Force, a byproduct of a session held at last year’s Annual Meeting. It has been meeting since last July to align training and certification standards for GSI maintenance workers with the duties and qualifications for those jobs. The ultimate goal is to establish principles and best practices for training GSI maintenance professionals, a pressing need across the U.S. and Canada. Is there another group that could adequately address the need? Somehow I doubt it. Thank you to members Daniel Apt (Olaunu), Pam Boyle-Rodriguez (City of Palo Alto), Chris Hartman (Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District), Aaron Kirkland (Philadelphia Water Department), Claire Maulhardt (Capitol Region Water), Natalie Unruh (Mid-America Regional Council) and David Wood (Chesapeake Stormwater Network) for your leadership. You can learn more about our work and the date of our next meeting in the “Groups” section of the member portal.
A similar cross-sector effort seeks to create a flexible framework for comprehensive asset management across the U.S. and Canada. The 2025 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure underscores what a huge and pressing need has arisen for routine, reliable data to assess the quality of assets. A partnership between HDR, Arcadis and the Exchange, the cadre of members leading this effort includes Ryan Fucci (HDR), Heather Himmelberger (Southwest Environmental Finance Center), Heidi Horlacher (City of Vancouver, BC), Claire Maulhardt (Capitol Region Water), Beatrice Ohene-Okae (DC Dept. of Energy & the Environment), Julie Stein (HDR), Andy Szatko (City of Omaha). Job one for the committee is a survey (due by March 31 if you have yet to fill it out) of utilities and local governments to better understand current asset management practices.
Another project I’ll mention involves a short training course on how to use the new GSI Impact Hub. Here, we asked four members from diverse geographies, including Chris Hartman (Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District), Irene Ogata (Tuscon Water), Ted Shriro (City of Springfield), and Andy Szatko (City of Omaha) to record a video highlighting a case study that illustrates their use of the Impact Hub’s resources, targeting audiences who may need a leg up in using them. Who else could really do this effectively? Again, I doubt there is anyone. Shortly, the videos will be added to the Impact Hub website. For now, you can view them here.
A final effort I’ll mention is our current Annual Sponsorship Campaign. Funds raised through the campaign help to keep participation in Exchange events affordable for all and enable us to offer scholarships to help those who fall on hard times, because of new leadership, budget cuts, and the like, stay involved. Thanks are owed to CIS, Greenprint Partners, Herrera and WaterNow Alliance who are among the members who have stepped up to help so far. Member sponsorship opportunities start at just $50, with greater, year-long publicity benefits at the $500 and $1,000 levels. Learn more and become a sponsor here.
In our daily lives, our work can exact a heavy toll on our time, attention and energy that makes it very hard to say yes to other commitments, no matter how worthy they may be. But, as the proverb quoted above foretells, small acts and omissions can matter greatly. For want of a nail, a kingdom was lost. Conversely, because you say “yes,” a network, our network, thrives. For that, I humbly thank you!
