Spartanburg Water | 2009-2010

Established by the NASBA CPT in 2006 – the Being A Difference Award honors individuals and organizations for their unique contributions to ethical leadership.

“We are all so honored to receive this recognition,” comments Sue Schneider, Spartanburg Water General Manager.  “Too often we hear about companies taking shortcuts or employees who get into trouble for misuse of their customers’ resources and trust. We have worked hard to weave ethics, responsibility, and integrity into what we do every day at Spartanburg Water. To be the first utility to earn this distinction is a tribute to our entire staff and the difference they make in the community.”

In choosing Spartanburg Water, the NASBA CPT considered several key practices the utility has in place, such as:

• Constructing policies and procedures for every aspect of operations including ethically complex issues such as, appropriate use of company property and resources, conflicts of interest, harassment, equal opportunity, compliance, procurement of goods and services, privacy, public perception of appropriateness, etc.
• Instituting ethics training for its employees on, providing opportunities to role play through questionable situations and gain a better understanding of unintended consequences.
• Establishing an anonymous ethics hotline for employees.
• Implementing an effective management assurance program for fraud prevention and deterrence.

The NASBA CPT also took into account the utility’s commitment to community outreach.  Some of these efforts include:  Earth Day and National Drinking Water Week events and the Pontoon Classroom, an educational exhibit at the Spartanburg Science Center.

Spartanburg Water’s 260 employees serve over 55,000 accounts and a combined population of nearly 200,000 people. www.spartanburgwater.org.