In just the last five years, the water industry has seen an upsurge in public attention–water quality crises, affordability concerns, and immense droughts have brought a mostly unseen and underappreciated service to the forefront of public attention. Add to this the public’s surging use of social media and utilities’ growing need for infrastructure investment, and effective communication has become a must for leading utilities and public-sector organizations.
To help our clients address their communications needs, Raftelis Financial Consultants, Inc. (Raftelis) has hired industry-leading strategic communications specialist Melissa Elliott as a Manager in our Denver Metro, CO Office.
Melissa comes to Raftelis with a more than 20-year career spent almost entirely with water and wastewater utilities. Most recently, Melissa directed the public affairs efforts at Denver Water, which included creating the public engagement strategy for large-scale infrastructure projects, developing a nationally recognized lead service line replacement program, and leading conservation efforts through the innovative “Use Only What You Need” campaign. She has extensive experience working with elected officials, stakeholders, and the public on issues as diverse as drought, water quality, potable reuse, affordability, rate structure change, impactful construction projects, customer assistance programs, and demand management.
Melissa’s understanding of how to successfully approach communications for utilities and the public sector, will provide great benefit for our clients as they work to meet their goals and objectives and, ultimately, provide the highest quality services possible for their customers at an affordable price.
You can contact Melissa at melliott@raftelis.com or 303.305.1141.
