Have you ever thought about a career at GUC’s Water or Wastewater Treatment Plants, or want to grow your career and earning potential at GUC? In April, Human Resources (HR) and Water Resources launched a new program called iGrow to help GUC employees become certified and prepared for water or wastewater careers. A successful first year of the program wrapped up this fall when nine employees completed the necessary courses and exams for their area of interest.

“We were very pleased with the interest and response from employees during this first year of the program,” said HR Manager Lena Previll. “We held informational sessions earlier this year with good turnout and great questions from employees, and we got excellent feedback from the nine who recently completed their courses.”

The iGrow program is open to employees who have completed their initial probationary period with GUC, are in good standing, have applied and interviewed for the program, and are selected by the iGrow Selection Committee. For this first year, the committee selected four employees into the water certification program and five employees into the wastewater certification program.

The program kicked off in April with an orientation that participants attended at their respective plants. They then attended weekly certification classes and math review classes at their respective plants with the North Carolina Rural Water Association (NCRWA). Throughout the weekly classes, participants also had hands-on training at the plants. The program wrapped up with state certification exams in October and November.

“All the participants in the program seemed interested in learning about the duties of being an operator,” said Anthony Whitehead, Water Quality Manager. “It was a great opportunity for them to learn an additional certification and prepare for opportunities in the future.” 

Water Treatment Plant Superintendent Julius Patrick echoed Anthony’s observation. “The participants were engaged throughout the program which was key to a successful program,” he said. “My overall take is that iGrow provided participants the opportunity to go behind-the-scenes and do both hands-on and classroom training to prepare for their exams.” 

In fact, one participant already made a career change and is now an Operator at the Wastewater Treatment Plant. 

Please join us in congratulating the following employees on completing the first iGrow Program course:

Water Course

• Corbin Congleton
• Cody Cratt
• Blake Horton
• Chris Wallace

 Wastewater Course

• Maurice Ampley
• Charlie Buck
• Lee Eakes
• Dustin Jenkins
• Chris H. Rouse