Wealth & Finance International - January 2017

Wealth & Finance International 58 Waste Not Want Not ince its inception in 2003, Global Water Resources has gone from strength to strength, with the company now owning and operating nine utilities that provide water, wastewater and recycled water services. Additionally, the company complete an Initial Public Offering in 2016, and trades on the Nasdaq under ticker symbol “GWRS”. Fleming describes how the company is building upon this success through its innovative approach to managing water utilities: “At Global Water Resources, our mission is to develop industry-leading, integrated water and wastewater utilities focused on conservation and reuse; al- lowing our customers, the company, and our shareholders to realize the benefits of consolidation, regionalization and environmental stewardship. “Our vision is to grow enduring utilities whose professional staff is focused on quality in customer service, excellence in water resource delivery, as well as the management of water scarcity through innovation in water recycling and technologies. “We call our innovative approach Total Water Management or TWM, where we manage the entire water cycle and maximize the use of recy- cled water, conserving water by using the right water for the right use. TWM protects water supplies in places where urban sprawl threatens to consume all available water.” The company’s primary service areas are strategically located along growth corridors in the metropolitan Phoenix area, where it maintains more than 37,000 active service connections. Ron walked us through the company’s plans for growth in the region. These plans revolve around the already completed master-planning and permitting that will ultimately allow for Global to service hundreds of thousands of homes in these areas. “Our near-term organic growth is closely tied to the metropolitan Phoe- nix area,” noted Fleming, “particularly as it continues to grow as the result of low-cost housing, favourable weather, large and growing univer- sities, as well as a diverse employment base and low taxes.” The Employment and Population Statistics Department of the State of Arizona predicts that the population of Maricopa County will reach 4.5 million by 2020 and then 6.0 million by 2040. “We believe our utilities and service areas are located in the anticipated path of regional growth,” added Fleming “In fact, market data indicates that our service areas currently incorporate a large portion of the final plot- ted lots, partially finished lots and finished lots in metropolitan Phoenix. So, as the growth occurs, we expect to benefit from a large portion of it.” Company: Global Water Resources, Inc. Name: Ron L. Fleming Email: [email protected] Web Address: www.gwresources.com Address: 21410 N 19th Ave # 220 Phoenix, AZ 85027 Telephone: (480) 999-5290 Global Water Resources is one of the largest investor-owned water utilities firms in Arizona. We invited Ron Fleming, President and CEO, to tell us more about the company and the range of solutions it offers, following their success in winning the Best Water Management Company 2016 – USA award. S BU160032