T H E W A T E R C O N N E C T I O N News For Clayton County Water Authority Employees & Retirees

June 2014

CCWA Launches

Small Local Business Program

CCWA Recognized in

National

Climate Assessment

CCWA Participates in Inaugural Southern Children’s Water Festival

CCWA staff participated in the Metro North Georgia Water Planning District’s inaugural Children’s Water Festival at

Welcome All Park in South Fulton on May 6. More than 400 fourth grade students from the City of Atlanta, Clayton

County, Fulton County, Henry County and DeKalb County school districts participated in this hands-on day of water

education. Students from Fountain Elementary represented Clayton County.

According to CCWA Water Resources Engineer Shayla Nealy, the goal of the event

was to provide quality water education opportunities to as many

students as possible and remind the kids about the direct

connection we have on the quality and quantity of the water in our

rivers, lakes, and streams.

Shayla, Jennifer Brandon (Water Reclamation) and Matt

Smith (Stormwater) provided a F.O.G. Relay event; Cornell

Sims (Stormwater) instructed students on the Edible Watershed

activity and Kwame Gyimah and Jael Fuller (Stormwater) gave

demonstrations of the vac truck.

C CWA successfully kicked off its Small Local Business Enterprise

Program on Saturday, May 17, 2014 in the new HQ Community Use

Room. The program is an initiative of the CCWA Board of Directors.

“Small businesses are the economic engine that drive our economy,” says

Marie Barber, Chairperson of the CCWA Board of Directors. “It is important

to our Board of Directors that small businesses are aware of opportunities

available in Clayton County.”

The program was introduced to 34 registered attendees comprised of local

businesses from the City of Atlanta, Clayton, DeKalb, Cobb, Fayette, Douglas,

and Gwinnett Counties. CCWA Board members, Marie Barber and Oscar

Blalock were also in attendance.

Speakers included Commissioner Michael Edmondson representing Clayton

County Board of Commissioners, Clayton State Small Business Development

Center, Brown & Caldwell, CH2MHill, and Jacobs Engineering.

CCWA’s Procurement staff plans to hold monthly workshops that will contain

information on the SLBE certification process, How to Do Business with CCWA,

Spotlight on Business, guest speakers and small business resources.

The first workshop will be held June 18, 2014 at 2:00 pm at CCWA’s HQ

Community Room, and will be held the third Wednesday of each month

thereafter.

CCWA’s innovative use of

constructed treatment wetlands was

spotlighted in the recently published

U.S. National Climate Assessment.

The report cites ‘decreased water

availability’ as exceptional vulner-

ability for the Southeast region.

The treatment wetlands

enabled CCWA to maintain abundant

water supplies during the 2007-2008

drought.

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Promotion

New Hires

Benedict Tawiah

IT Intern

Hire Date: 5/14/2014

Takara Black

P/T Call Center CSR

Hire Date: 5/27/2014

Kristen Tyson

P/T Call Center CSR

Hire Date: 5/27/2014

Stephanie Pearson

GIS Intern

Hire Date: 5/27/2014

Kayla Lyles

Customer Service Intern

Hire Date: 5/27/2014

Alexis Lucas

Stormwater Intern

Hire Date: 5/27/2014

CCWA Ambassadors Out & About

SouthSide Music Fest - Linda Allen (Water Production), Chris Hamilton

(Water Reclamation), Michelle Mirzaiee (HR), Ed Durham (HR), Mike

Thomas (GM), Bernard Franks (D&C) and Jim Poff (AGM)

McGarrah Elementary School - Jordan Clanton and Chris Bond

(Stormwater)

Callaway Elementary School - Ebony Poke and Beverly Steward

(Customer Service)

Saint’s Alive at First Baptist Church of Jonesboro - Diane Ford

(Customer Service), Brian Gibbs (Meter Services) and David Judson (Meter

Services)

Suder Elementary School - Gerald

Fuller and Dean Howell (D&C)

Shown at right: Gerald and Dean (who isn’t

pictured) used some scrap items to make

a replica of a sewer line running between

two manholes so they could perform a

mock CCTV Inspection for students.

Shown at right: Jr Thompson, Rhonda Daum, Heather Downing, Robert Cloud,

Troy Usry, Jasmin Sosa, and Michelle Palominos spent time

completing a draft of their resume in

class.

They also learned about the im-

portance of having a resume realizing

that once their skills, education and

work history are on paper they will

always be able to refer to it when

needed.

Shown below: Jr Thompson proudly

shared his resume during the Interviewing with Confidence Class he attended

along with Victor Bros, Keith Lowry, Jikeva Moore, and Michelle

Palominos.

“I thought the Interviewing Skills class would be

an effective tool to prepare any employee with

interviewing skills they need as they think about

advancing their careers,” says Jr. “The part that

helped me was the ‘Hot Seat’ exercise. Other

attendees chose interview questions to ask me,

and I had to respond “on the spot.” It made me

think quickly and I had to be prepared for any

question an interviewer might ask. I would high-

ly recommend this class if you are thinking about advancing in your career.”

Ebony Poke

Accounts Receivable Supervisor

Employees attend “Writing a Standout Resume”

and “Interviewing with Confidence” Classes

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CCWA Training News

Alex Hollywood, son of

Christina Hollywood

(Finance), graduated

from the Pre-K program

at Early Years Learning

Center on May 15,

2014.

Everett Shelton, son

of Michael (D&C) and

Sarah Beth (Finance)

Shelton, graduated

from the Pre-K pro-

gram at Early Years Learning Center

on May 13, 2014.

Camryn Horton, daughter of

Adam Horton (Water

Production),

graduated from Kinder-

garten at Eastside

Elementary School on

May 23, 2014.

Natalie Santoyo, daughter of

Cary Santoyo (Executive), graduat-

ed from Stockbridge High School on

May 23, 2014. She will attend

Kennesaw State University in the

fall.

Avery Sterling, son of

Sean Sterling (PM&E), is

graduating from Griffin High School

with honors on June 7, 2014. He will

attend Gordon State College in the

fall.

Elizabeth Michaels, daughter of

Larry Michaels (PM&E), is gradu-

ating from Griffin High School with

honors on June 7, 2014. She will

attend Gordon State College in the

fall.

Congratulations

to Our 2014

Graduates Writing & Delivering Great Presentations

If you want to improve your presentation skills

register for the next “Great Presentations” class

on Thursday, July 10, 2014, 8:30 a.m. – 4 p.m.

Managing Workplace Violence and Harassment

Training

Shown above are attendees: Suzanne Brown, Ed Johnson, Chris Hamilton, James Drake, Ebony Poke, and Kendra Stanciel. Not shown: Bernard Franks

All managers and supervisors recently completed a workshop on Managing

Workplace Violence, Harassment and Inclusion. The HR refresher

reinforced a key responsibility is to ensure a safety and harassment free work

environment for all CCWA employees.

SAY OUCH! Tips for Speaking Up at Work

The following techniques were learned during the session on Harassment:

Assume Good Intent and Explain Impact

Ask a Question

Interrupt and Redirect

Broaden to Universal Human Behavior

Make It Individual

Say Ouch!

First Aid/CPR Class

CCWA’s First Aid/CPR Classes are now worth 6 CE points.

If you need a refresh-

er, sign up for the July

24 class through

Sharepoint. Shown at

left, Will Moore and

Jacob Cannon learn

about bone, muscle

and joint injuries.

Shown at right, Justin Tucker, Jacob Cannon, Will Moore

and Derrick Stroud learn choking care for infants.

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Our Condolences Please keep the following employees

in your thoughts and prayers:

Gene Beaber (D&C) and his family

on the loss of his grandmother,

Ms. Lenora Evatt Houston, who

passed away on May 9, 2014.

CCWA Retiree Mrs. Louise Ether-

idge passed away on May 15,

2014. Louise is also Retiree Herbert

Etheridge’s mother.

Michael Crabtree (Water Reclama-

tion) and his family on the loss of his

brother, Mr. Wayne Crabtree, who

passed away on May 17, 2014.

Eva Puckett (Customer Service)

and her family on the loss of her son,

Mr. Keith Lamar Puckett Jr., who

passed away in May.

Birders Enjoy Walk at Wetlands Center

Jeff Jones

Celebrates 25 Years of Service

Distribution Maintenance

Supervisor Jeff Jones celebrated

25 years of service on May 1, 2014.

Jeff is shown above with General

Manager Mike Thomas and D&C

Manager Bernard Franks.

Shoal Creek WRF Class 1 Plant

Operator Jr Thompson celebrated

15 years of service with CCWA on

May 3, 2014.

Jr is shown above with General

Manager Mike Thomas and Water

Reclamation Manager Chris

Hamilton.

Jr Thompson Celebrates

15 Years of Service

CCWA properties are known as some of the best birding sites in the southeast-

ern United States. The last of three spring Atlanta Audubon Society Birding

Walks was held at the Newman Wetlands Center on May 24.

It was a beautiful morning for the group to look for different species of birds

while enjoying the peaceful setting. The highlights of the walk were the migra-

tory species of Great-crested Flycatcher, Wood Thrush, Yellow-billed Cuckoo

and Blue-gray Gnatcatcher. The

group also visited the Huie Holding

Ponds and Blalock Reservoir.

Upcoming

Classes

A few spaces are still available in

the following classes. If you are

interested in signing up for any of

these, have your supervisor email

Trainer@ccwa.us.

Confined Space Entry & Rescue

Tuesday, June 10

8:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

Thursday, June 26

8:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

Forklift Safety

Tuesday, June 24

8:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.

Atlanta Gas Line Safety

Wednesday, June 25

8:30 a.m. - 9:30 a.m.

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Congratulations to the

following winners from our

May drawing:

Renzer Ham

(Meter Services)

LaRee DePaolo

(Billing)

Mark Brown

(NTS)

Lynn Brooks

(Finance)

Amanda Fortson

(Meter Services)

ACS Dress Down Stickers

Good Through June 30

Baby News

Joshua Wood (Stormwater) and

his wife Christiana welcomed their

daughter, Olivia Grace Wood

(7 lbs. 12 oz.), who was born on

May 16, 2014.

Information provided by WELCOA

Dress Down Stickers may be worn by non-

uniformed employees through June 30, 2014.

Only new priced stickers may be purchased at this

time (see pricing below).

If you still have stickers purchased previously, you

may still use them.

Stickers may be purchased from Michelle Mirzaiee

in HR.

Stickers cannot be used more than two (2) times per week.

New Pricing: 1 sticker for $4; 8 stickers for $24

The Jonesboro Farmers Market

opens for the summer on Saturday,

June 28 and will be open on the

following days through

August:

Saturdays

8:00 a.m. - Noon

Tuesdays and Thursdays

11:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.

The market is located in the

Jonesboro City Parking Lot

behind Heritage Bank on Mill Street.

Jonesboro Farmers

Market Open June 28

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YOS

Sean Sterling 6/1

Stan Court 6/2

Alaine Mort 6/2

Cody Rush 6/2

Coty McDaniel 6/4

Brent Wilson 6/4

Keith Crawford 6/5

Mike Long 6/5

David Jones 6/6

Kevin Osbey 6/6

Phoenix Hunt 6/8

Jay Mathis 6/8

Cary Santoyo 6/9

Barbie Stepp 6/9

Suzanne Brown 6/13

Walter Burdett 6/14

Joey Dobbs 6/17

Adam Horton 6/20

Teresa Worley 6/20

Marshall Maddox 6/22

Adam La Pierre 6/25

Larry McClain 6/26

Andrea McLain 6/26

Tim Walker 6/26

Mike Holt 6/27

Nikiki Johnson 6/27

Daniel Salmons 6/27

Mark Goss 6/28

Angie Nalley 6/30

Jacob Cannon 6/1 1

Jenny Collier 6/1 1

Sophia Haynes 6/1 3

Latasha Lovelady 6/1 1

Michelle Mirzaiee 6/1 14

Willie Moore 6/3 1

Steve Thompson 6/3 12

Myers Scott 6/4 7

Mike Sneed 6/4 24

Mike Hopper 6/5 19

Nate Lee 6/6 14

George Smith 6/8 4

Keith Watkins 6/8 24

Danny Haynes 6/10 32

Brent Lorentzen 6/11 22

Suzanne Brown 6/13 9

Mike Gaylor 6/13 26

Christina Hollywood 6/13 3

Dennis Ward 6/13 7

Beth Thompson 6/15 15

Jonathon Smith 6/16 11

Chris Clinton 6/18 7

Don Conner 6/18 13

Desmond Norwood 6/20 5

Kelly McDougal 6/21 15

Chuck Jones 6/22 15

Stephen Gibbs 6/23 17

Richard Bergmann 6/25 7

Terry Moy 6/25 7

Marvin Harry 6/27 7

Norris Howell 6/27 26

Donyel Patton 6/27 3

Brian Caron 6/29 14

Derek Cofield 6/29 5