President of Local Water and Wastewater
Operations Company Announces Merger
Ben Kuenzel, President of local company Midwest Water Operations, announced this week a merger with Alabama-based company, ClearWater Solutions (CWS). This merger creates a 400-employee company providing water and wastewater operations and maintenance services to municipalities and private utilities in 12 states across the greater Southeastern United States.
“We are thrilled to be joining forces with the people at ClearWater Solutions, ”said Kuenzel. “It has been a pleasure getting to know one another throughout this process, and we see many similarities in how these two organizations operate.”
“MWO has historically been focused on O and M [Operations and Maintenance] for private water and wastewater utilities,” added Terry Merritt, Vice President of MWO. “With CWS, not only can we serve private utilities across a broader geographic footprint, but we also see tremendous opportunity to serve municipal clients in our key states.”
“This partnership is an incredible opportunity for our organizations to enhance our combined service offerings and draw on a larger footprint to better serve these communities which we are so passionate about,” Steve Cawood, CEO of CWS, commented.
“We believe this merger will accelerate our organic expansion and provide additional career, development and growth opportunities for our people,” remarked Rick Ailiff, President of CWS.
MWO is a leading water and wastewater facility O&M and construction company based in Washington, Missouri. The company has grown rapidly through the last five years, primarily focused on serving privately-owned utility systems that are often in a state of disrepair and neglect at the time MWO first becomes involved. The services MWO provides ensures these water and wastewater treatment facilities remain open, operational and compliant with federal and environmental regulations. MWO employs more than 120 people across Missouri, Louisiana, Tennessee, Kentucky, Arkansas, Mississippi, Texas and North Carolina.
CWS is a leading provider of water and wastewater treatment services to governments, municipalities, private individuals and water boards throughout Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, South Carolina and Florida. The company’s
purpose is to provide a safe and superior operation service and improve the quality of life in the communities it serves. CWS strives to foster an environment where clients become advocates, its employees find opportunities for growth and its team is recognized as an industry leader. The business today consists of more than 275 people and continues to expand.
Both companies are like-minded in their vision to create a leading regional operations and maintenance company that is truly an extension of the communities they serve, providing clean drinking water to the public and ensuring treated wastewater is free of harmful contaminants. Together, they are poised to continue with a shared mission across this larger footprint and beyond. This combination makes both organizations stronger and ensures they have the resources and scale to ambitiously grow, provide opportunities for their people and serve communities in new and exciting ways.
