Eric Casey picked a challenging time to take over as executive director of the National Onsite Wastewater Recycling Association.

He stepped in as many in the onsite industry — from design and installation contractors to state onsite organizations — were still struggling from the decline in home construction. But he brought along a positive attitude and confidence built on some 30 years in the association management profession.

He reports being pleased to discover a dedicated and energetic board of directors and corps of volunteers, a membership made up mainly of small-business owners who are “down-to-earth” and “genuine,” and a mutually productive affiliation with the Water Environment Federation.

While he’s not making big promises so early in his tenure, he expects to see NOWRA remain a significant player nationally as an advocate for the industry and a proponent of sound wastewater management policy. And he aims to help the organization develop new and better offerings that deliver value to members.

Before joining NOWRA, Casey was president of Casey Management & Marketing Services, a consulting firm in Arlington, Va., providing management and consulting services to trade and professional associations.

Before that, he held senior management positions for associations involved in industries such as business travel, direct mail, financial services and forestry. He shared his perspective on the industry and its future in an interview with Onsite Installer.

OI:

After your first couple of months on the job, what are your impressions of NOWRA?

Casey:

First of all, I am very impressed by the presence NOWRA has in Washington, D.C., and among the decentralized community.

That includes our relationships with the EPA and with other major water organizations here: the Water Environment Federation, the Water Environment Research Foundation, Clean Water Action, the National Groundwater Association, and others. Some of the bigger national organizations look to NOWRA for guidance and for expertise on important decentralized wastewater reuse issues.

That’s good for the industry because it gives us a platform and a voice with which we can advocate on behalf of regulations that will benefit the industry, or help bring new technologies and techniques to the field. We can also include wastewater recycling in broader discussions on issues such as integrated watershed management.

OI:

What was it that attracted you to this industry, and what have you since discovered about the industry that appeals to you?

Casey:

One thing that attracted me was my own background. I’ve worked for a variety of organizations across different industries. One place that I enjoyed most was working with a trade association

in the mailing and fulfillment industry that dealt with smaller businesses.

It was a place where I just felt comfortable around the members — I liked them tremendously. I felt well suited to help another association that represented small businesses. It looked like my skills were a nice fit with what this organization needed. And now that I’m here, it really is living up to what I anticipated.

I like the people in this organization very much. They’re genuine, down-to-earth people. They’re not afraid to tell you when they’re not happy, and they’re not shy about saying when they’re happy. You don’t find that kind of candor everywhere.

The biggest surprise, and it’s a pleasant one, is to see how green this association is and how much we’re an integral part of the

environmental community. Onsite wastewater recycling is one of the original green industries. That is an accepted fact here in Washington — that what NOWRA members do is green by nature.

OI:

How would you rate the support you’ve received so far from the NOWRA leadership and members?

Casey:

Everybody wants NOWRA to be a successful, viable organization. The support I’ve had from the board and from volunteers and people outside the NOWRA membership directly has been really gratifying, and it provides a base of support to hopefully move the organization forward on a variety of fronts.

OI:

What do you see as some of the organization’s biggest challenges?

Casey:

The economic conditions have been challenging, and there have been a lot of changes in the management of the organization, particularly over the last two years or so. I think we need to do some work to restore trust and confidence among our members, our affiliates, and our manufacturers.

I have to give a lot of credit to the NOWRA board and the executive committee in particular, and to the president, Tom Groves. The executive committee has made a lot of really good decisions that I think set the stage for significant progress going forward, in terms of communicating effectively to our members and delivering value to them.

OI:

What would you say are a few of those good decisions?

Casey:

I would start with the arrangement with WEF to house NOWRA and provide a variety of support. I think that arrangement represents in some ways the best of all possible worlds for our organization, especially since NOWRA remains completely independent in its governance and decisionmaking.

WEF has been terrific in terms of providing support to NOWRA. Not only are they providing office space, but they’re providing us with a good deal of administrative support — everything from IT to telecommunications to access to their business learning facilities. And that has been done without really any obligation on our part other than to cooperate with them on projects of mutual interest. They obviously see the value of a strong onsite wastewater industry.

I believe the board has also strengthened our committee structure, and we have a lot of strong people serving as chairs. And they’ve done some innovative things, such as the partnership formed last year with COLE Publishing to hold our Installer Academy and Roe-D-Hoe in conjunction with the Pumper & Cleaner Environmental Expo.

OI:

What steps are you taking to strengthen relationships between NOWRA and its affiliate organizations, and between those groups themselves?

Casey:

Right now I’m setting up a working group between all of the affiliates and even some non-affiliated onsite wastewater organizations that have executive directors. I think there are a number of ways in which we can benefit by working together.

I see pockets of innovation in places like WOSSA (Washington Onsite Sewage Association) and the Missouri Smallflows Organization in terms of what they’re doing with education. IOWWA (Iowa Onsite Wastewater Association) recently secured some grant money from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to fund an onsite wastewater project they’re doing with Habitat for Humanity.

A couple of our affiliates are doing some distance learning programs that might have some value in being shared with other affiliates around the country. And there are probably some other best practices taking place in certain affiliates that can be shared with others.

OI:

What has been your relationship so far with the National Association of Wastewater Transporters?

Casey:

I have met their executive director, Tom Ferrero. Our members overlap to some degree, and I think there are opportunities for us to collaborate on some projects. I fully support what NAWT does. They’re an integral player in the onsite community.

OI:

Long-term, what benefits do you see NOWRA offering to members that are not being offered now?

Casey:

I don’t know how far my telescope goes here, but I see several things NOWRA can do to deliver more direct benefits. I’d like to see us do many of those things cooperatively with our affiliates.

One initiative already in progress involves the NOWRA Resource Library. We’re transitioning our Web site back in-house at our Alexandria offices. I think the Resource Library is a huge opportunity to provide much more information to our members and to people who aren’t members as well.

Another thing NOWRA can do is provide advice that addresses the concerns of small-business owners in general: How do they make their businesses better? How do they grow their businesses? How do they collect their debts? Another benefit could be negotiating a contract on the national level for hotel space for our affiliates’ annual conferences — where we get a better deal from a hotel chain than they would get if they all tried to negotiate for space individually.

OI:

How do you reconcile the need for NOWRA to be on the forefront of major issues with the need rank-and-file installers have for basic, hands-on information about their craft?

Casey:

NOWRA was established to be the national representative to advance the science and technology of the industry. By definition, that means we’re out front on a lot of issues. I think many things NOWRA is working on now won’t translate down to the installer in the field perhaps for several years, but that’s the way it’s always been.

For example, NOWRA did a lot of the heavy lifting to gain acceptance for many technologies that now go into alternative systems. Every time you create an opportunity to put an onsite system in a less receptive space than before, that expands business opportunity for the members on the ground. So the work NOWRA does on the forefront does ultimately translate down to practical things that benefit companies in the field.

OI:

Historically, participation by installers and designers at national events has been rather low. How might you envision getting more of those professionals to events such as the annual conference?

Casey:

I absolutely think our national education events need to appeal to all segments of our membership. One thing we’re doing with our annual conference this year is developing an education track specifically for designers, installers, and O&M providers. We’re calling it the Contractors’ Education Track.

It’s tied into the issue of surface discharge, which is gaining importance in states like Missouri, Ohio and Illinois. So we’ve put a track together that is designed primarily to attract people from that region.

OI:

What are some of your other key priorities here in the early part of your tenure as director?

Casey:

One of my priorities is to increase the flow of communication from NOWRA to all of its stakeholders. That includes not only our members, affiliate organizations and their members, but also other organizations, such as

NAWT, the Consortium of Institutes for Decentralized Wastewater Treatment, the National Environmental Services Center, and others.

That is a huge priority — to communicate why NOWRA is a vital and important organization that deserves support, and to

make sure people in all corners of the onsite community know what we’re doing.