In the May issue, you can read about how several communities joined with CH2M HILL to mark National Drinking Water Week and learn more about how minority employees view our company. Read more about a Georgia city’s successful efforts to become a certified community habitat as well as how one of CH2M HILL’s corporate attorneys changed the life of a young girl – and her own.
Our company
CH2M HILL named Water Company of Year
CH2M HILL recently was named recipient of the Global Water Award for Water Company of the Year, which recognizes the water company that made the most significant contributions to the development and advancement of the global water sector in the past year. The award was presented in Rome at the annual Global Water Awards sponsored by the Desalination Association and Global Water Intelligence. Several CH2M HILL clients also were recognized. Read more.
Minority Engineer ranks CH2M HILL 5th on list of top 50 employers
 Readers of Minority Engineer magazine were recently asked to name the employers in both the public and private sectors for whom they would most like to work or that they believe would provide a positive working environment for members of minority groups. CH2M HILL finished fifth among private-sector employers.
"To be honored by our clients and industry peers—some of the toughest competition out there—demonstrates that our employees feel that CH2M HILL is a great place to work, and our commitment to diversity and inclusion is recognized and fully aligned with Respect for People, which is one of the firm's foundational values,” says John Madia, chief human resources officer.
Our partners
Colorado mayor named chamber’s Woman of Year
 The Aurora Chamber of Commerce recently recognized Centennial Mayor Cathy Noon as Woman of the Year for her distinguished service as a member, advancing the community’s civic, cultural and governmental interests and objectives. The Mayor was one of 10 individuals recognized for their extraordinary work and contributions to the community. CH2M HILL has provided public works services to Centennial since 2008.
Georgia city earns certified community wildlife habitat status
Thanks to the work of Johns Creek High School student Malcolm Barnard and his Johns Creek Wildlife Habitat Team, the city recently was recognized by the National Wildlife Federation as a certified community wildlife habitat. With 224 homes, all schools in Johns Creek, the park and various community sites designated as wildlife habitats, the city itself has become only the second in Georgia and the 60th in the nation to qualify. CH2M HILL has provided various municipal services including public works and community development to the city since 2006.
Our communities
Communities join in Drinking Water Week activities
Many of CH2M HILL’s client communities across the United States joined with the company to mark National Drinking Water Week May 6-14 including Americus, Ga. (below), where Mayor Barry Blount visited that city’s newest water well to issue a proclamation for the week. Across the state in Swainsboro, CH2M HILL employees and the community joined to “Celebrate the Essential,” recognizing the essential role drinking water plays in our daily lives, with special emphasis on water infrastructure, the economy and careers in the water profession. In Farmington, N.M., Mayor Tommy Roberts also issued a proclamation marking the week, as did DeFuniak Springs, Fla., Mayor Harold Carpenter.
Our industry
Continued growth of water reuse
 Despite the struggling economy in the United States and abroad, implementation of water reuse projects is continuing to grow. In addition, the variety of projects and types of water reuse is expanding beyond the traditional application of reclaimed water for landscape and agricultural irrigation. Larry Schimmoller, senior process engineer and CH2M HILL’s global technology leader for water reuse, discusses the growth of water reuse applications in our Access Water blog.
Our people
Lawyer makes a difference in kids’ lives
 In 2009, Catherine Lang was among a group of CH2M HILL attorneys to hear a presentation about pro bono opportunities through the Rocky Mountain Children’s Law Center. Just a week later, the center approached Lang, corporate counsel for the Operations & Maintenance Business Group who has been with CH2M HILL since 1992, about taking on a case involving a grandmother who has been raising three of her grandchildren for more than a year after they were removed from the care of their mother, who had substance-abuse problems. The grandmother was concerned when the estranged father of one of the children decided to seek custody. Read about how Lang’s work changed the child’s life and her own, in InsideCounsel.
Headquartered near Denver, Colorado, USA, employee-owned CH2M HILL is a global leader in consulting, program management, design, construction, and operations for government, civil, industrial and energy clients. With US$6.4 billion in revenue and more than 30,000 employees, CH2M HILL is an industry-leading program management, construction management and design firm, as ranked by Engineering News-Record (2009). The firm’s work is concentrated in the areas of energy, water, transportation, environmental, nuclear and industrial facilities. The firm has long been recognized as a most-admired company and leading employer.
CH2M HILL partners with communities and companies to deliver a complete range of custom-tailored operations and maintenance solutions. Our sustainable O&M solutions include water and wastewater system optimization; contract O&M of water, wastewater and other utilities; facilities management; and complete municipal operations, including administration, public works and community development.
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President’s perspective
For those of us in the Northern Hemisphere, spring has sprung in earnest and the warm summer months are on the horizon, beckoning us to enjoy the natural wonders of the great outdoors with family and friends.
CH2M HILL celebrated the season (and Earth Day) by sponsoring the Greenway Foundation’s Riversweep, the largest spring planting and clean-up event in Denver, as part of our Earth Day endeavors. The April 21 event involved more than 1,200 community volunteers, including many of our employees, who came together to help beautify several miles of the South Platte River. We were particularly delighted that Mayor Michael Hancock was able to join us to pull weeds, clear debris, and plant flowers and bushes in Confluence Park in the city’s downtown area.
May brought two significant observances in the U.S. related to our business. First up was National Drinking Water Week May 6-12. We joined with clients across the country to “Celebrate the Essential,” recognizing the vital role water plays in our daily lives. While the Earth is 70 percent water, only 1 percent is actually available as drinking water for a global population of more than 7 billion people. It is imperative that we do everything possible to conserve and reuse this precious resource, and this annual observance serves as a great reminder.
We also observed National Public Works Week May 20-26, honoring the tens of thousands of men and women who “put the work in public works,” repairing roads and sidewalks, mowing rights-of-way, cleaning up parks and helping traffic flow more smoothly. It also reminds us of the dire state of America’s aging infrastructure, from crumbling roads, bridges and railways and overburdened aviation facilities to water resources such as dams and levees, and water distribution and wastewater collection and treatment systems. It’s a problem being felt around the world as well. As the global economy has been in decline, it’s been easy for leaders everywhere to ignore the “out of sight, out of mind” nature of these systems. Until they fail. To paraphrase the old saying, we can pay for it now or we can pay for it later. But pay for it we will, and the longer we wait, the higher the bill.
While it’s up to our elected officials at all levels, in collaboration with the private sector, to work toward a solution for these issues, it’s only fitting that we take a moment to thank our employees for the work they do behind the scenes every day to provide the essential services that keep our communities clean, safe and healthy. Thanks also to our clients who allow us to be a valued part of their teams and especially to those of you who joined with us to participate in either or both of these activities in your communities.
Respectfully,
Elisa M. Speranza
President
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