WWEMA Elects 2021 Board Members and Executive Leadership

The Water and Wastewater Equipment Manufacturers Association (WWEMA) announced its newly elected officers and directors during its Virtual 112th Annual Meeting on November 6, 2020.

The 2021 WWEMA Executive Committee comprises:

  • Chairman John Collins, Chief Executive Officer, JCM Industries, Inc. (Nash, TX)
  • Chairman-Elect Vince Baldasare, Sales Manager, Gorman-Rupp Company (Mansfield, OH)
  • Vice-Chairman Diane Meyer, Director of Marketing, Val-Matic Valve and Manufacturing Corporation (Elmhurst, IL)
  • Treasurer William (Bill) Decker, Vice President & General Manager-Equipment Service Group, Aqua-Aerobic Systems, Inc. (Loves Park, IL)
  • Immediate Past Chairman Michael Dimitriou, President, WRT, LLC (Westminster, CO)

Henk-Jan van Ettekoven, President, HUBER Technologies, Inc. (Denver, NC) was appointed as Assistant Treasurer.

First Term Board Members

Three members were newly elected to the WWEMA 2021 Board of Directors:

  • Krista Ramirez, Business Development Manager, Revere Control Systems (Birmingham, AL)
  • Fred Siino, Vice President, KLa Systems, Inc. (Assonet, MA)
  • Danny Swalley, Managing Director, Electrosteel USA (Birmingham, AL)

Second Term Board Members

Two members were re-elected to serve a second three-year term:

Jay Conroy, President, Hydro-Dyne Engineering, Inc. (Clearwater, FL)

  • Eric LaCoppola, President, Environment One Corporation (Niskayuna, NY)

One additional member was newly elected to fill a vacant seat on the WWEMA 2021 Board of Directors:

Jon Forrest, President and Owner, Fortech, Inc. (Charlotte, NC)

These positions were also announced by several media outlets, including Water Online, Empowering Pumps, and Smart Water Magazine. Please join us in welcoming our new leadership for 2021!

WWEMA Announces Morriss Award Winner

Water and Wastewater Equipment Manufacturers Association (WWEMA) Chairman Mike Dimitriou, President, WRT, LLC, named Ronald (Ron) Collins, Corporate Director, Past President, CEO, and Founder of JCM Industries, Inc. the recipient of the 2020 James C. Morriss Member Achievement Award at WWEMA’s Virtual 112th Annual Meeting on November 6, 2020. The Award is presented each year to a WWEMA member for significant contributions to the mission of the Association, and to the overall benefit of the water and wastewater industry.

In presenting the award, Dimitriou cited Collins’ outstanding and long-standing service to and support of WWEMA. Collins has been an active member of WWEMA for over 40 years and a frequent sponsor and attendee of WWEMA’s flagship events—the Washington Forum and its Annual Meeting. For several years, Collins served on WWEMA’s Legislative/Regulatory Committee. He is an advocate for water technology manufacturers, having represented the industry and WWEMA in work with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the National Chamber of Commerce, and the American Water Works Association (AWWA). With approximately half a century of experience, he is a well-respected member of the water technology industry and has been actively involved in many water-related associations. Collins is also the 2012 recipient of AWWA’s John Lechner Award of Excellence, which recognizes a lifetime commitment to delivering safe water to customers. Collins developed a passion for the water industry early on in life in high school and founded JCM Industries in 1976, which manufacturers some of the largest tapping sleeves in the water industry. Collins is quoted as saying, “Water is really more important that oil, you can live without oil, but you can’t live without water!” The award was also publicized by Water Online and Empowering Pumps media outlets.