Member Portrait: Greg Morgan - A Passion for Water & Wastewater

Originally printed in the Fall 2016 issue of NC Currents magazine.

Greg Morgan is a big believer that, given the opportunity and the training, operators and their crew can work their way up to leadership positions in water and sewer. Having fulfilled that very potential, he brought an important perspective to the task force preceding the launch of the NC AWWA-WEA’s Academy, an initiative that will help provide members of the industry with the skills they need to move up the career ladder.

As for Morgan, he had to do it all on his own. Growing up in Union County, he spent the early years of his life just struggling to get by.  “We didn’t have much,” he recalls. But what he did have was determination.

When Morgan was 15, he fell in love with a 13-year-old girl who would later become his wife.  Because of their family situations, for all  intents and purposes, both teenagers were raising themselves. In fact, just after they started dating, Morgan’s girlfriend also assumed

responsibility for raising her two half-sisters.

At the age of 16, Morgan left high school, finishing his diploma at night so he could work during the day. “A college degree does not define  a person’s capability to succeed if they are given an opportunity,” says Morgan, adding that in the mid-90s construction in the area was

booming. “We had a backhoe on every corner in Union County,” recalls Morgan. The County is adjacent to Charlotte, which, at the time, was  bursting at the seams.

Morgan pinpoints this time as the start of his career. Earning a good wage was doubly important, since he was now helping raise his girlfriend’s two half-sisters as if they were his own. “By the time I was 18, I was putting in water and sewer lines as well as storm drains

for a developer,” he notes, adding that connecting with the County inspector overseeing the work helped open some further opportunities.

In 1999, he married his sweetheart, and that same year, they adopted a child. Their daughter is now 17 years old and thriving, but she needed  special care her first year, including a three-month stay in Hemby Children’s Hospital, and tube feeding for another six months. “That’s what  drove me to join the local government utility for Union County,” explains Morgan. “That gave me a chance to get insurance benefits for my child. I have been truly blessed!”

From 2000 to 2004, he worked his way from an entry level to a crew leader position, responsible for repairing manholes and pump stations. Meanwhile, the ongoing battle of their extended family compelled Morgan, his wife and their three children to move away from Union County and  relocate near Raleigh.

In Raleigh, Morgan went to work for an engineering firm, overseeing rehabilitation projects on sewers across North Carolina. A little less  than two years later, he was offered a position as a field supervisor for Union County. “So we moved back in 2006,” says Morgan, “and I’ve

been with Union County ever since.”

In 2005, the yearly spill summary for Union County’s sewer system was 2.4 million gallons. As of last year, the county was spilling less than  100,000 gallons per year. “I was part of an organizational effort to reduce sanitary sewer spills,” explains Morgan, noting that he earned his Grade 4 Wastewater Collection and Water Distribution, Backflow/Cross Connection certifications along the way. “I’m extremely proud of  being part of the team that reduced the amount of wastewater entering our streams and our environment.” He credits the men and women he works  alongside every day – from engineering, to management, to field staff – for making this happen. They are the same people who helped Union County go from 200 miles to more than 600 miles of sewer lines in the past 15 years.

Morgan notes that the most challenging part of his work revolves around public education, making the public understand the importance of the work that his crew performs each and every day. Becoming involved with the NC AWWA-WEA provided him with some of the tools to address this  challenge.

His first involvement was at the 2007 Annual Conference in Charlotte. It was the first time Morgan led a team in the Operations Challenge. At  the time, the NC AWWA-WEA Annual Conference only included one of the five Challenge events: Collections. That year, the Union County Sewer  Rats won first place. At first, they were excited by the prospect of going to the national competition at the Water Environment Federation  Technical Exhibition and Conference (WEFTEC). “Later on we found out that we weren’t going to nationals, because we didn’t have a clue what  the other four events involved,” laughs Morgan. He adds that, even if the team members had been prepared, the NC AWWA-WEA did not have the  funding to send them.

Never one to shy away from a challenge, Morgan joined Bob Norris and Billy Allen in working with the then Executive Director, Lindsay Roberts, to develop an Operations Challenge Committee. Together, the four of them also drafted a sponsorship policy, presenting it to the

Board of Trustees for approval.

After Norris retired, Morgan and Allen co-chaired the Operations Challenge Committee, implementing a new event every year until all five were part of the North Carolina event. “Now the board regularly approves funds to send the overall winning team to WEFTEC,” says Morgan, noting that he has also served on the Local Arrangements Committee as the liaison with the Operations Challenge Committee since 2010,

Three years ago, Mike Osborne, then Chair of the NC AWWA-WEA Board of Trustees, called Morgan to ask if he would take part in a task force to look at training gaps. The core group was composed of 10 people from across the state, ranging from public works directors, to engineers, to people like Morgan and T.J. Lynch who started on the front lines and have worked their way from the bottom up.

“The gaps we found included the soft skill training that people like me need to become a supervisor or a leader,” explains Morgan, “in order to take the next step in their career.” The work of the task force led to the development of the Academy, an initiative rolled out in 2015 to better meet the needs of NC AWWA-WEA members and their employers.

While he was serving on the task force, he was approached and asked to consider being on the Board of Trustees. It wasn’t a hard sell. Morgan has a deep appreciation for the role the NC AWWA-WEA has had in his professional development.

“NC AWWA-WEA has enabled me to collaborate with others in this industry, in this state and in this region,” he explains. “Having open lines of communication with folks from all over the state and being able to teach the next generation of operators is very fulfilling.” Morgan is

one of the instructors on support system awareness for the Academy.

Serving his second year as the board’s Professional Wastewater Operators Representative, Morgan continues to be an outspoken voice for men and women like those who work alongside him at the utility. “Without my team, I’m nothing,” says Morgan. “As an industry, we have to create agateway so we can teach the skills that are needed for them to become the leaders of tomorrow.”

He points out that a large segment of the industry’s workforce is set to retire. The industry will always have a huge succession problem unless it is willing to build capacity from within. “If nothing else, my goal is to stand behind these operators, to make sure they are front

and center,” he says. “Whether it’s through the operations challenge or my speaking at a board meeting, and saying this is the training they need, I’ll do everything I can to help bring this training to the table so we can create successful succession plans for our utilities.”

Last year, Morgan and Brian Tripp delivered a presentation on the Academy at the AWWA Regional Meeting of Section Officers in Key Largo, Florida, sharing North Carolina’s experience with representatives from the other states in attendance. “The other states were very surprised that we were willing to take this on,” recalls Morgan. “They were very interested in what we are doing.”

He points out that attendance at the schools put on by the Academy continues to grow. Meanwhile, another part of the task force for the Academy is working on securing accreditation for the courses, something Morgan considers key to the success of this initiative. “Once these two solid footings are built,” he says, “I feel very strongly that the Academy is going to take off. It is already starting to gain some momentum. People are coming from across the state because they see the value in educating their workforce.”