Water Council Effort Fails To Secure Federal Grant
But nonprofit says it remains focused on developing W+E Forward initiative.
Fred Van Heems of Veolia and Dean Amhaus celebrate the signing of the W+E Forward agreement. Photo by Jeramey Jannene.
A collaboration between several water companies, educators and nonprofits that promised business growth, job training and environmental benefits ran into a critical roadblock.
It didn’t get a key federal grant.
After providing $1 million in seed funding, the National Science Foundation (NSF) did not award the Milwaukee initiative, known as Water+Energy Forward, a follow-up grant.
The Water Council, which leads the effort, confirmed in September it was pursuing $160 million to bolster the nascent initiative. But in mid-November, it wasn’t included on NSF’s released list of 71 selected partnerships.
“Although we are disappointed to not be advancing in the NSF Regional Innovation Engine program, we are proud of the accomplishments we have achieved and grateful for the Development Award that enabled us to explore new opportunities and renew and develop partnerships throughout Wisconsin,” said The Water Council CEO Dean Amhaus in a statement.
But the partners say they aren’t walking away.
“Continuing this collaboration, our engine leaders intend to focus on some of the region’s critical needs, such as workforce development, modeling a circular watershed economy, and addressing water and energy challenges for small and medium-sized manufacturers and utilities,” said Amhaus.
The 71 advancing organizations were invited to submit a full proposal by early 2025. A Madison-based, biotechnology initiative, Wisconsin Forward Agriculture, was advanced to the next phase.
Veolia North America formally joined the Water Council initiative in September when it held a ribbon cutting for its new Milwaukee headquarters.
“This effort is going to bring together a consortium of more than 50 universities, nonprofits, utilities and companies large and small to help manufacturers and utilities find the water and energy solutions they need,” said Water Council board chair Scott Beightol, a partner at Michael Best, at the time. “These entities are under increasing pressure to reduce their carbon footprint and we’re going to be helping them.”
Other partners include Rockwell Automation, Microsoft, UW-Madison, UW-Milwaukee and Marquette University.
Veolia committed to work with the initiative to develop the “Water & Wastewater Workforce Center” to address sector-wide workforce challenges. The MMSD’s new $13 million water technology lab would also be leveraged by the initiative.
The NSF Regional Innovation Engine program is funded by the CHIPS and Science Act, which President-elect Donald Trump and advisor Elon Musk are expected to try to cut or kill.
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