Water Wednesdays: Investing in Our Water Workforce

With experienced operators, engineers and inspectors retiring faster than they can be replaced, the water industry is facing a critical workforce crisis–one that directly threatens the state’s public health and economic development. Meanwhile, younger workers increasingly view careers in the water sector as less viable paths.

In thisWater Wednesdays episode, IEI Policy and Program Manager Jessica Solis Aguilar welcomes City of High Point Laboratory Manager Bill Frazier, Carteret Community College Vice President of Workforce Continuing Education Perry Harker and Tuckaseigee Water and Sewer Authority Executive Director Daniel Manring to discuss the challenge of rebuilding the talent pipeline. They explore solutions such as community college training, apprenticeships, certification reforms and industry partnerships.

This episode is a continuation of the conversations sparked at the 2026 Emerging Issues Forum: Future Forward Water.

The Connector podcast explores connections being made across sectors, regions and perspectives, resulting in a more vibrant and prosperous North Carolina. To learn more about the Institute for Emerging Issues, visit emergingissues.org.

Transcript

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Welcome to The Connector, where we connect North Carolina to ideas and North Carolinians to each other. This podcast series is from the Institute for Emerging Issues at North Carolina State University. And now to the conversation. Welcome to The Connector. I'm your host, Jessica Solis Aguilar, Policy and Program Manager with the Institute for Emerging Issues at NC State University. Today's episode focuses on one of the most critical and often overlooked challenges facing North Carolina's water systems: the workforce behind them. This past February, IEI hosted our Future Forward Water Forum across three different regions across the state, bringing together local leaders to explore the future of the water infrastructure and its workforce. One of the standout sessions that we had held in Asheville, Winston-Salem and Morehead City was The Next Wave: Investing in the Water Workforce. This conversation highlighted a growing reality. The systems we rely on every day depend on the skilled workforce that is aging out, shrinking, and becoming increasingly difficult to replace. I'm excited to be joined today by three of the panelists that were at one of these three locations: Daniel Manring, Perry Harker and Bill Frazier. Welcome, and thank you all for being here. Thank you. Thanks for having us. So as we heard throughout the forum, access to clean, reliable water depends on hundreds of skilled professionals from water operators, engineers, lab technicians, maintenance crews, etc. But across North Carolina, utilities are being faced with a workforce crunch. Many experienced professionals are nearing retirement, while our systems are becoming more complex due to the aging infrastructure, the stricter regulations and more frequent extreme weather events. At the same time, smaller and rural systems are struggling to recruit and retain this talent, often competing with larger utilities and the private industry. Today, we'll explore how these challenges are showing up across the state and, more importantly, what it will take to build the next generation of water professionals. So, Daniel, I'd like to start with you. You were at our Asheville Forum location. You spoke about workforce challenges from the utility leadership perspective. I'd love to zoom out a bit. What did you hear from the others in the Western region about workforce challenges, and are there particular issues like retirement, certification barriers or competition for talent that feel especially pronounced in western North Carolina compared to other parts of the state? Thank you. Jessica. I'm Daniel Manring. I'm the executive director of the Tuckaseigee Water & Sewer Authority. We're located, in the mountains, as you just suggested. About 50 miles west of Asheville. So thanks again for for having me. So to answer your first question was, what did I hear in the room from from others? And I think the most shocking thing I heard, was surprise. It's something that a lot of people in the room, you know, you had economic development folks. You had some some, elected officials. You had people that were not in water. And I thought that was great because eyebrows went up and they didn't really understand, until they heard it from from us, what our struggles were. And I, you know, I communicated that our organization, had over 50% of our entire staff has retired in the last six years. We've had some other, vacancies for other reasons. As well. So, I mean, the turnover and mostly mostly because of retirements has is staggering. And so the the common theme of feedback after our session was, was just like, wow, I had no idea. Another shocking thing I heard was from, it was a lady. I wish I had caught her name, but she, we talked a lot about, you know, trying to get people in the industry and communicating to schools, you know, students of all different levels of academia of what, you know, how can we make water jobs important? And she raised her hand and said, “Well, what do they need to do to prepare for these jobs? I always thought that careers in water had to be like engineers,” and, like. Blew my mind. I never thought that that was what people that aren't in water thought. And it really made sense. Oftentimes people don't think about water careers. And then if they do, they think that somebody has to go out and become an engineer to be involved in water. And so it was really, I think, great that I was able to communicate that, oh, no, this is an industry. There are careers for people that have degrees and engineers, but there are tons of careers that all you need is a high school diploma. And then that we, the industry, will pay for the certifications, the trainings and the the ability to get the licenses. So that was a really good take away from the group and kind of surprised me. It was eye opening you know, what people did or didn't know. The second part of your question, I hope I don't sound like I'm rambling, was what are the particular issues maybe in our region, and that’s an interesting question. You know, I don't know that a lot of people in North Carolina know that it takes like four and a half, five hours to get to Raleigh from where I am. So, you can also go an hour and a half, west of where I am. So the state keeps going. I would say that it's, particular to western North Carolina. It really just boils down to being rural. So it's I don't think it's a Western or Eastern thing. It's about, you know, we have the same struggles as the rest of the state that like, for a water, exam. They only offer four of those a year. So everybody deals with that. I will say that on a from a training standpoint, we might have to travel more than a lot of folks in the state to attend a training. Now fortunately on the water side, and I'll kind of go back and forth between water and wastewater. But on the water side, at least they offer remote, like you can do most of those trainings online to get a water certification for drinking water. But in wastewater, you have to do it in person. So if there's not a school offered in western North Carolina, then then we're sending folks to Raleigh. On the flip side, there just was a school for wastewater, biological level three. So as you get on up in the in the tiers of those certifications, they just have one in Haywood County right next door to us. And there were folks that had to come all the way from the eastern part of the state to attend. So there is that struggle. Just, not being, close to most of the people in the state presents challenges for, for for the training piece. Other than that, though, nothing particular to, to western North Carolina. And you talked about, you know, the, the misconception of people thinking that you have to be some kind of engineer to be a water professional. What do you think is the disconnect there? I don't think the, we've never been cheerleaders for ourselves. It really boils down to, I feel like our industry has not done a really good job of of, communicating how many careers and how great of careers there are. I mean, there's no relationship, at least locally, with our organization in the high schools or the seventh grade classrooms and the, I think we might have taken it for granted that 30 years ago we got some really good dedicated employees, and we didn't do too good of a job of thinking about when they all retired. And here we are. Very fair. Well, I want to move on to Perry and ask you, during your session, you were in Morehead City. You talked about the training programs and the workforce pipeline. Thinking more broadly about the eastern part of the state, what did you hear from communities and partners about their workforce needs? And are there unique challenges and opportunities in coastal or more rural areas when it comes to recruiting, training, retaining the next generation of water professionals? Yeah. Thank you, Jessica, and thank you for this opportunity to speak on this very important topic again. What what I heard consistently across eastern North Carolina is that, workforce needs in the water sector are both urgent and evolving, but they're also very local. From our communities in part, there's a few things I think really stood out. First, we're facing a pipeline challenge. Many of our experienced, operators as said many times are nearing retirement, and there simply aren't enough younger workers coming in behind them. And that's not just a numbers issue, it’s a knowledge transfer issue, too. Because if we we, you know, for all those workers to retire or recruit new ones, then we're losing that, really institutional knowledge and certainly industry knowledge that a lot of our workers that have been in this field for a long time. So we risk losing decades of institutional experience if we if really if we don't act intentional. It Second was an awareness is a, that awareness itself is a was a major factor in many of our rural and coastal communities. Students and even adults just don't know that water careers exist or that they offer stable, well-paying, meaningful work. They’re careers that protect public health and support economic development. But they just aren't visible. The third thing that I think sort of in I guess sort of a thing I wanted to, address was that we heard a lot about access and geography in, in the more rural parts, and particularly here in the East, getting to training can be a real obstacle. Transportation, distance and even, you know, broadband limitations can make it harder for people to engage in traditional training models. That forces us as educators, from a community college standpoint, to think differently about how we deliver that instruction. I spoke a little bit about our partnership with NC Water One, where we bring an annual waste water school to Morehead City, but that involves, operators traveling from all over the state here. They enjoy the the weather and the location. But again, it's it involves a lot of traveling for for a lot of the different municipalities to send their employees here to Morehead City for what is really some excellent, excellent training. But along with those challenges, we talked about some opportunities, especially in regions like ours in the in the East, one of the biggest is the strength of partnerships. I heard strong interest from utilities, local governments and community colleges to work more closely together, to create an opportunity for more earn-and-learn models. For example, we spoke some on apprenticeships, internships and really embedding training that allows people to enter the field while they're learning. And and that has proven to be a very good model in other industry sectors. And I think it will be a good model in this sector too. There's also an opportunity to start earlier in the pipeline for our K-12 system, especially. Not only CTE programs, they can play a much bigger role in introducing students to water careers, but also starting even much younger with, industry fairs and elementary schools and for the middle schools. And obviously the high schools to introduce students to the opportunities that are available in this industry. When students see a clear, local pathway from high school to a credential to a job, they're much more likely to stay in the region. And that is one of our key things in Carteret County, is we want to create opportunities for our students to graduate from our public schools, to stay here and work and earn a good, good living. In our coastal area especially, there's unique opportunities to connect this work to community partners. So water professionals here aren't just doing a job, they're protecting our environment, our fisheries, our tourism economy, which is big for us, and our quality of life. That purpose can be a powerful recruitment tool if we tell the story. And that's what we've got to do is tell the story of the opportunities in this industry. Finally, I'll say retention came up just as much as recruitment. So smaller systems in rural areas often struggle to compete on salary. So we have to think about retention differently. Career pathways. Focusing on that, upskilling, you know, additional training, supportive work environments and helping employees see a future where they are, that will help. We have seen in other industries with a retention issue. So at the end of the day, the message that I took away is this, that if we're willing to meet people where they are, build flexible training models, strengthen our partnerships. We can turn what looks like a workforce shortage into a workforce strategy. And that will will mean engaging all educational systems: K-12, community colleges and universities. All three need to better understand this industry and the career opportunities that are available in this industry. Thank you. And, I wanted to kind of touch back on when you talk about how do we entice the younger generation to be interested in these, kind of this kind of profession? And how do we get them to see the benefits, from these kind of jobs and see a bright future? I used to work at a high school, and it's so interesting working with, young adults on how they consider what their future can look like. I know you, Perry, have done some work in that realm as well as you, Daniel. Can either of you kind of chime in, like, what are some strategies that you've done, or are thinking about to entice the younger generation to consider a career in water profession? Well, one thing is we have to tell our story, and students are looking for unique opportunities. I mean, and again, if you never hear about the water industry throughout high school, you know, with, with all of these, different industries, come before them and talk about the great opportunities that they had and students don't know about it. I think what I see is if it's a clear pathway, that you can take these courses. Here's a job that you can obtain, and here's the advancement opportunity, a career opportunity that will be available there. And again, it would be local. I mean, it's just a great career and we need to tell that story. I think when students hear that, it’d be an opportunity for them to certainly learn more about it and hopefully engage in pursuing employment in that industry. And I'll add to that. So yes, the students need to hear, that we're there. Right. And they need to hear the opportunities that are there. But I also think that, they need to hear the impact it has on your community. So that's something there's a lot of people that are helpful, you know, just by nature. And when you tap into that, I'll use tap because that's a, another water reference. But if you can, tap into that helpfulness and communicate what the water industry contributes to the, to the community. I mean, without community, what are you. So I feel like it's it's getting in front of the students, and then it's also making our industry and what they would do within it important. Not just for them, not just because we can provide a great career to them, but let them, like, get a little taste of the piece that matters to the community. I think that really grabs ahold of people once they think about it, but they've got to. They've got to be, it's somebody has got to make them think about it. So it look, I would I would add that students do have an environmental know. Yeah. Awareness and this this industry is protecting our environment. And we probably don't tell that side of it as much. But I know here our fisheries and again our industry are just this is critical to us. And if you have an environmental, you know, if a student has an environmental awareness of it and an interest, this is an industry where you can you can kind of live out that dream. Oh, absolutely. I want to shift you, Bill. You were at our Winston-Salem forum location and you highlighted the importance of laboratory and technical roles. From your conversations at the forum, what stood out to you about workforce challenges in the Piedmont or more urbanized parts of the state, and are there differences in how workforce shortages show up in larger or more resourced systems versus smaller ones? There really are simply because of compensation. I know when I came into the professional environment, it was very hard pushed to say that salaries didn't matter, satisfaction did. That's gone. News flash. Just the changing of generational differences and everything else. I have two ways of motivating my people: money, which I have almost no control over, and food. So you know, it it you even see things in management forums now about the pizza parties, about did you need more salary? So in larger systems that are more funded, yes, they come across pretty good. The smaller ones and especially the very small ones, the rural communities really struggle. I do think that the manager, the person that's dealing with this should really think very hard about their role and take a little more personal responsibility about what they can bring to it. And focus a little more on their people skill training than their technical training. The other side of that is what I brought up in Winston-Salem, which is a little bit of a simple example, but that of the first day of kindergarten, when the teacher asks what everybody wants to grow and be doing something, somebody said, doctor, and it was lawyer, and there may have been a teacher. There wasn't a single person in there that said anything about working in the water and wastewater industry. And I've been out of kindergarten. 63 years, we hadn't done anything to change that yet, because I do spend a lot of time in schools and colleges and things like that. I don't really And especially with the STEM things. I agree, we've got great non-degree program opportunities for electricians, people with plumbing skills. First one thing, then another. Heavy equipment operators, I mean, that's one of the biggest issues we have recruiting is because they come in here and they get their training and their certification. They're gone. I mean, it's it's a revolving door. But on the STEM side, this is a much bigger systemic problem that I'm not really sure. We've been screaming about STEM education since I got out of college, which is over 40 years ago. Nothing's changing. So, you know, even with the engagement somewhere, that child that started in kindergarten is not getting the information they need or the challenge to look at something in a science field that's going to direct them where we need them. And it gets tougher and tougher every single day. I want to pose the question based off kind of that response. What do you what do each of you think it's going to take for something to change? I hate to dominate, but I frankly, it's it's going to have to happen. I don't I don't necessarily think the education system is to blame here. I think that there's probably an overall. I don't I hate to use the word cultural issue, but when everybody's... this is not a job you can do on your phone. It's not a computer, it's not on the internet. You have to stand and do tasks. That's not popular with younger people. There's nothing there that in our media or anything else that pushes them towards. Yeah, you know, it's okay. This is a good path to go, too. So there's that's where the the fulcrum is. It's got to change at that level. We got to find something to get in front of those young people and say, this is a really cool thing to do. It’s very challenging, it’s very rewarding. Pretty decent salaries. So, you know. I, I agree with telling that story. And because that is very important, it does describe the opportunities here. I think we it's from an educational institution. We've we've got to be intentional about growing these programs locally and and promoting. I mean, we're seeing that with our trades programs. I mean, 4 or 5 years ago they would not be in our area, we had small trades programs. Now with the number of houses that are being built in our community, we've really beefed up, beefed up the equipment, the recruitment. I mean, we're just intentional about making sure that young people and those that are looking for work understand that these that these opportunities exist in the construction trades. I think we've got to do the same thing for this industry because, I mean, they're very similar, I would say career paths and jobs. And actually, you know, with, the water, you, you may end up in most cases end up with municipalities where they really is an opportunity every time and opportunity. But, you know, we just gotta it's, it's a it's an issue. We've got to really be intentional and focus on making sure that we address it and help students understand what this opportunity presents. You’re right. I mean, you hear a lot and we heard we had a question at our forum about AI and that sort of thing, but this is one of those industries where AI, it's I mean, you may use it in some of your research and that sort of thing, but you've got to get your hands on the equipment to fix it. I mean, AI can't AI cannot do that. And, and just so you get a third answer, I think I'm going to lean in on what Perry said earlier. I think, one thing is you're analyzing this issue is, is tapping into something that that people relate to now and that environmental piece that you spoke to a little bit ago. You're right. There's a lot of people that are environmentally minded and we have to connect, that you can you can do lots of things for the environment. But this is a tangible way with a great career that comes along with it. So I think that's another key piece, to lean in on. Absolutely. If you don't mind, I'm gonna drop one more little thought here because I did at the Winston-Salem forum. What I threw out there was rebranding where, you know, you say something to those kids in kindergarten about working in water wastewater plant, they don't know what you’re talking about. But the bottom line is, is we're going to have to focus a little bit more on how crucial we really are. I mean, you get sick, you go to a doctor here, the doctor, the police. Nobody stays unless there's water. What is it, three days? Without fresh, clean, safe water, and then you can't stay someplace. I still think that there's a pathway for us finding a marketing approach as a public health profession, not a medical profession. I even saw a billboard on 85 down about, Salisbury. They said it was about one of the local health departments talking about public health professionals and displaying the different jobs that they did in the health department. First, one thing and another. I don't want to rob their glory, but there's got to be something there for us to elevate ourselves and make it look more appealing. Yeah, I know, I remember at one of the locations I heard someone say, you know, we think about first responders and we think about what kind of professionals are the kind of what, what kind of professionals come to mind and that kind of field. But why don't we consider water professionals in that same category? When a storm hits, when a natural disaster hits, they are also the ones that have to come out, otherwise we won't get access to clean water. I remember when Tropical Storm Chantal hit the Piedmont. That was what was coming out is, you know, the different water systems that were failing and somebody had to come and make sure that those things were fixed after that storm to make sure that people had access to that clean water. So I remember hearing that conversation and that kind of stuck with me. You know, maybe it is that we have to reconsider, what first responders are and include our water professionals in that. Just real quick note there. The city of High Point is already proposed that for council in our next budget year for our water, wastewater, our maintenance, that our operators to bring them up to the same status as police and fire, which will require certifications that they have to get. So it is something actively we are doing that's awesome. So I know we're close to wrapping up, but I'd love to just open up for a quick reflection. At the forum, each of you were asked about the challenges and you're based off your specific role. After listening to the conversation, are there common themes that you're seeing across the different regions? And also where did you see or where do you notice the biggest, chance for opportunity? I'll just jump in. I think the, the neat thing to hear is that we all have very similar issues. I mean, big or small. I mean, there's some certain some things, rural and urban that, that, make things harder or easier, but, we are all in this together, but we don't have a unified front to to put up the billboard. We, so if we've got the same issues, I mean, some some kind of measure, and I don't know who needs to lead that measure, but I guess we're all we're all asking that that, something can do something on a larger scale, because while we are all alone, it's the same industry in the same the same problem. So that was my takeaway. Is it was I it didn't make me feel better that our next door neighbor is struggling also. But it made me think that, hey, if enough of us are voices that, we can come up with a collective way to to approach, making water more important and more of a daily conversation. I mean, maybe we do need a public works day or a water like, I don't even think a lot of times we're not even considered in the public works discussion. We're just like, you know, you had Covid and we weren't essential. Not at least until we begged to be. I had to I had to write a letter, so that my employees, our employees could, could go to work because they weren't, they didn't have a nurse badge, and they weren't police or fire. I thought it was ridiculous. So we're the ones providing the water, but we're not essential. So, like, you know, we can be our own cheerleaders, but we need some people to listen to and, and consider water important. So that was my, good and bad takeaway. But my takeaway, I guess, would be that we're we're all facing pipeline challenges. You know, we need workers, and it's just not in numbers, but in awareness and preparedness. A few common things that that I remember was recruitment is a shared struggle everywhere. We all are having, whether urban or rural, we're competing for talent against other industries, and many potential workers simply don't know the water careers exist or how to access them. I mentioned earlier about the construction industry, and others like manufacturing, we're just competing for the same, in many cases the same person. Second, there seems to be a consistent, consistent need for stronger training-to-employment alignment. So not just training, but really showing that person that we're training that here's a job opportunity for you. So employers are looking for job-ready individuals. I heard you mentioned not only the skill piece but also soft skills, you know, good customer service and and good work-ready skills, showing up to work on time, that sort of thing. But don't always, you know, we don't always need to have these systems move so fast enough or make to work in the workforce that they need to. The gap shows up across every region. So we're all looking for stronger training and employment alignment and retention appears to be not just as appears to be just as critical. I mean, as recruitment. So retention seems to be just as critical as recruitment. Again, because we're seeing aging workforce and in many cases the next generation isn't entering fast enough to replace those retiring. So that creates both risk and urgency. And certainly there was a big difference in geography and scale in more rural and coastal areas, like where I am, we experienced the at least in North Carolina, the challenges are amplified. We have smaller populations that need a limited labor pool. It's harder to build training programs at scale, you know, and I think, you know, one of the questions I had was, you know, suppose you only have 2 or 3, individuals that want to take the training, is a college going to run a program with that small number of, of potential students? We've all said transportation, getting the training, access to training is a big barrier to it, and it certainly is in our area because we're, you know, we're not centrally located where a lot of this happens. But at the same time, those areas also presented unique opportunities because partnerships tend to be stronger and more personal, because we are smaller and lot of the educational institutions, employers and local governments are already working together. We just need to, to be intentional about this industry. And I think we can move quickly and build very targeted pipelines. in essence, the challenge is shared. But the solutions have to be collective and localized in some instances. But we got to work together, as one of you said, and we don't have a voice to put up billboards and help us recruit and we've got to find a way to come together collaboratively and, tell the story, the great story, the great opportunities, that story of this industry and hopefully that will lead to, you know, individuals learning more about it and wanting to be a part of it. Absolutely. Bill, anything you'd like to close this out with? I agree with everything both people said. And I don't mean for it to sound elitist, but these these lab positions that are required here that must have a college degree are a little bit different pathway. And I'll be fair, I've, I've worked for a long time in this job and I've never really seen a successful way to intervene to get them in the pipeline. I just haven’t. I, I spend a lot of time studying it. I think lifestyle issues is probably one of the biggest challenges that I've tried to take on is, what's it going to get to get them to look this way? And one of the things that I've seen consistently across the board is in larger cities where you have more opportunities for living diversity, for entertainment diversity, anything like that. They get people. One of these little small communities where basically you got a bluegrass dance once every month at the local, you know, theater, they're going to struggle a lot more. So even collectively we've got we still got to focus in on that little fine hair there. And I don't have a lot of suggestions, really. Well, thank you all for providing your, you know, your reflection, the conversations that were talked about at each forum location. I know there's still a lot of work that needs to be done, but we're hoping that we can continue amplifying, the need and, you know, raising awareness, with all the workforce challenges. So thank you just for joining us and helping bring these regional conversations together. It's clear that while North Carolina's water challenges will have differences and similarities from the coast to the mountains, the solutions are going to require collaboration, coordination and a shared vision for the future. So for our audience to learn more about IEI’s Future Forward Water work and what's next, you can visit emergingissues.org. And until next time, let's all stay Connected. Thank you. This has been a presentation from the Institute for Emerging Issues at North Carolina State University. To learn more, please visit us at Emerging issues.org.