April 2023 Vol. 78 No. 4
Features
Convention preview: 2022 year of growth, diversification for NASSCO
NASSCO (National Association of Sewer Service Companies) expects to have a very productive year in 2023. The groundwork was set in 2022, when the association did an excellent job of recovering from “COVID fatigue,” according to association President Max Gowdy, “when members and staff adopted new ways to communicate, conduct business and achieve goals”
The most obvious adjustment was NASSCO’s move to virtual training of its Pipeline Assessment Certification Program (PACP) and Inspector Training Certification Program (ITCP).
“This move,” Gowdy continued, “changed the way we do business and, in fact, virtual sessions are now more common than in-person training. The need to invest in a learning management system has opened the door for NASSCO to offer other training and certification programs, including the Grouting Safety Training Program that was launched in 2022, with more to follow.”
NASSCO continues to anchor itself as the industry source of education, technical resources and advocacy for the underground industry, he added.
“This is accomplished largely by our highly active committees,” he said, “NASSCO is also attracting members from all areas of the trenchless industry, including contractors, consulting engineers, public agencies, manufacturers, suppliers, and Associates – those involved in the underground infrastructure industry but not falling within any of the other categories.
“Because of NASSCO’s representation of the entire industry,” Gowdy explained, “we are able to capture and distill knowledge from every aspect of our industry to help us achieve our mission to set standards for the assessment, maintenance and rehabilitation of underground infrastructure, and to assure the continued acceptance and growth of trenchless technologies.”
Gowdy’s summary of the 2022 accomplishments included reviewing, reconsidering and revising NASSCO’s five-year strategic plan by its board, staff and consultants. While many of the tactics were updated and new ones added, basic three-pronged goals were established:
- Grow NASSCO’s training and education programs
- Expand the library of technical resources
- Advocate that the underground infrastructure industry remains relevant and important to move NASSCO forward
Achieving goals
Working to achieve these three goals, in 2022 NASSCO expanded its educational programs by presenting some of the top committee achievements in 2021 to regional audiences via NASSCO’S Exchange Programs. Presentations on the topics of safety, spiral-wound technology, grouting safe operating practices, pressure-pipe rehabilitation, and updates to PACP Version 8 were presented in November 2022 at “Motor City Exchange” (Detroit), and “Circle City Exchange” (Indianapolis). NASSCO will expand this program to four areas in 2023.
In addition to the many technical resources published in 2022, including specification guidelines, technical videos and industry-wide webinars, NASSCO also advocated for artificial intelligence (AI) and its use in the assessment of underground infrastructure.
“Our AI workgroup,” said Gowdy, “developed a document sharing NASSCO’s position on AI for sewer systems from a PACP perspective. This, along with our other technical resources, is free to the public for download at NASSCO.org/Resources.”
NASSCO also worked with the Trenchless Technology Center (TTC) at Louisiana Tech University to complete the Phase 3 field study on safety related to styrene emissions associated with various CIPP coatings in refrigerated storage.
NASSCO is off to a good start in 2023, said Gowdy:
- NASSCO is currently working with other industry associations to expand education and training programs.
- The Workforce Development Committee conducted primary research to help understand the difficulty in filling the skilled trades vacancies. Results show there is a significant gap between culture-based leadership and the needs of field technicians, so the association will be further exploring that and working to assist NASSCO member companies in building appropriate leadership skills.
- A safety consultant position has been added to ensure that NASSCO is well-represented with industry health and safety policy makers and to support the Technical Advisory Council in the review of all NASSCO-published materials.
- With receipt of the final Phase 3 Report from TTC, NASSCO will be updating the Specification Guideline on the Safe Use and Handling of Styrene in the CIPP Process to include new recommendations and will develop an online training program on the subject.
- After two years of virtual meetings, NASSCO members once again will visit Capitol Hill in person for the Annual Fly-In. The goal is to communicate to elected officials the need to fund water and sewer infrastructure, to maintain regulatory compliance enforcement, and to strengthen asset management requirements and funding.
- The board of directors is working on a board member effectiveness program to support exchange of ideas and perspectives to better serve members, industry and more efficiently engage new board members.
NASSCO headquarters is in Frederick, Md. Sheila Joy is executive director.
Details about all NASSCO programs and services are on its website, www.nassco.org, or by calling (301) 624-2400. UI
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