Member Portrait: Chuck Shue, from LAC to Board

Originally published in the Winter 2016/17 issue of NC Currents magazine.

Being the board of trustees’ liaison for the Conference Committee is a perfect fit for Chuck Shue. The senior project manager at McKim & Creed, Inc. has ample experience helping the NC AWWA-WEA prepare for the annual conference. “I was always involved with the local arrangement committee, in various tasks,” says Shue, who ramped up his participation with the NC AWWAWEA when he joined the Program Committee. “It gives you a great sense of accomplishment. When the conference is over, you can look back and see all the pieces that fit together.”

After a few years as chair of the Program Committee, he accepted a position as chair of the Annual Conference Coordinating Council, becoming the point person for all committees related to both the annual and spring conferences. “That was an eye-opening experience in terms of what it really takes to put the conferences on,” says Shue. “I knew the volunteer side from the committee work but I didn’t realize everything the staff does to put these events together. There’s a lot to keep up with.” In the fall of 2015, he was asked to join the board of trustees and is currently serving his second mandate.

It was only 10 years ago that Shue became actively engaged in NC AWWA-WEA. At the time, his coworkers at McKim & Creed, including local management, became increasingly involved, and they encouraged him to follow suit. Before then, his involvement had been limited to attending the Annual Conference in order to earn professional development hours (PDHs). “That was an early reason for going,” he explains. Along the way, he began to appreciate the networking opportunities. Over the years, NC AWWA-WEA members from a wide range of consulting firms and utilities have become not only valued colleagues, but also treasured friends. Shue notes that he always looks forward to reconnecting with them once a year at the conference.

“It’s great to learn how and what other people are doing,” he adds. The opportunity to share information and best practices is invaluable to his work in water and wastewater. As his 40-year career has been devoted mainly to consulting, the opportunity to connect with utility professionals is particularly important.

Shue’s decision to become an engineer developed in high school from an interest in structures such as bridges and buildings. Then, during a summer job with HDR while he was completing his civil engineering degree, he realized that structures were not as interesting as he had thought. “I gravitated toward water and sewer,” he says. “I liked it. I saw that there was a real need for it.”

After college he landed a position with HDR, where he had the opportunity to explore various aspects of the industry including odor studies at wastewater treatment plants. In the early 1980s, he did a stint in the utility sector at Spartanburg Waterworks in South Carolina before returning to HDR in 1987. Ten years later he joined McKim & Creed and has been there ever since.

Today, Shue continues to work in water and sewer, focusing mostly on distribution and collection. He specializes in large diameter sewer projects and the design of wastewater systems and pump stations. After four decades in the industry, he is just as enthusiastic about his involvement in the NC AWWA-WEA as he is about his work. “I enjoy the interaction with the other members of NC AWWA-WEA,” he says. “It offers great value to an industry that is devoted to providing people with clean water.”

Outside of work, Shue enjoys spending time with his wife, his three children and his three grandchildren.