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BUSINESS NEWS WESTECH ENGINEERING, INC. AND MICROVI BIOTECH, INC. SIGN EXCLUSIVE ALLIANCE AGREEMENT TO COMMERCIALIZE MICROVI’S BREAKTHROUGH BIOLOGICAL WATER TECHNOLOGIES WesTech Engineering, Inc. has signed an exclusive alliance agreement with Microvi Biotech, Inc. to promote Microvi’s innovative biological technologies for the water and wastewater industries. The agreement gives exclusivity to WesTech to promote Microvi’s technologies in the U.S. and Canada, while also pursuing advantageous partnerships globally. The alliance builds on the foundation of existing partnership projects, including water and wastewater projects in California, Arizona, Illinois, the United Kingdom, and Australia. WesTech’s initial focus will be to provide turnkey solutions for drinking water nitrate removal. Microvi’s innovative nitrate removal technology, DenitroviTM, has been awarded approval by California’s stringent Division of Drinking Water, and is also NSF/ANSI 61 certified. Microvi’s water technologies are based

on polymer-microorganism composites – called biocatalysts – which contain a high density of a single species of microorganisms (natural, non-pathogenic, non-genetically modified). These biocatalysts actively convert targeted pollutants into non- harmful by-products without producing a biological waste stream. engineered “Biological treatment offers significant advantages for water treatment solutions,” said Rex Plaizier, CEO of WesTech. “WesTech’s broad manufacturing and process design experience, coupled with its extensive sales networks, are ideal for providing comprehensive solutions that will accelerate adoption of Microvi’s revolutionary biological technology for water treatment,” Plaizier said. “This exciting alliance is another indication of Microvi’s commitment to the water industry, which realizes significant benefits to our customers across the globe,” said Fatemeh Shirazi, CEO of Microvi. “These benefits include a small footprint, lower operating expenses and no environmental impact. Our breakthrough technologies, coupled with

WesTech’s 45-year history of providing process solutions, align innovation, engineering, and experience in ways that will transform the way our customers treat water and wastewater,” Shirazi said. WesTech Engineering, Inc. provides process solutions for water treatment, liquids/solids separation, and biological treatment needs to municipal, industrial, and minerals clients worldwide. Founded in 1973 and based in Salt Lake City, Utah, WesTech is an employee- owned company, with more than 500 employees in seven countries. Microvi is a leading green technology company based in the San Francisco Bay Area that develops next-generation technologies for the water, wastewater, and bio-based chemical industries. Microvi’s approach has been demonstrated in a wide range of applications, including at large scale, to enable smaller footprints, increased productivity, and disruptive economics compared to current technologies.

JAMIE CLAIRE KISER, from page 3

For example, asking to take on additional tasks instead of honing one specific skill is perceived by management as having an inability to focus. Desperately asking how to move up the organizational chart is perceived as the “trophy” generation that wants to “check the box and get a promotion.” Expressing a fear of being “pigeon-holed” into a specific studio or department is viewed as flighty and uncommitted to building expertise. My personal favorite is complaining that young people are always on their phones. Contrast that with this finding: More than half of millennials, the study reports, feel that it is acceptable to answer a work email during dinner, versus 22 percent of boomers. When I hear these behaviors, I understand the frustration of leadership, but I also recognize that deeply-entrenched fear of being replaced and unemployable – justifiable fears known to those of us who graduated during the recession. “I don’t think any generation owns the work ethic, but I do think that there are different motivators and different anxiety-inducers for capable, motivated staff across the organizational chart that leaders of any age would be wise to consider.” I don’t think any generation owns the work ethic, but I do think that there are different motivators and different anxiety-inducers for capable, motivated staff across the organizational chart that leaders of any age would be wise to consider. JAMIE CLAIRE KISER is Zweig Group’s director of consulting. Contact her at jkiser@zweiggroup.com.

illuminating: Millennials call their bosses “the most powerful influencer over their time” – more influential, that is, than their families. “The article partially attributed the work martyr mentality to coming of age during the Great Recession, with the economic downturn leading to a long and painful job search that left an indelible mark in the work ethic of millennials.” The article partially attributed the work martyr mentality to coming of age during the Great Recession, with the economic downturn leading to a long and painful job search that left an indelible mark in the work ethic of millennials. I can personally attest to this: I graduated right at the very rock-bottom of the recession and was once turned down for an unpaid summer internship in my field due to “lack of experience.” Ouch! I was also once turned down for a night job at a bakery when I was in law school. (“You’re just not Panera material” is a joke my husband still finds funny). Knowing that hard work is not enough to get ahead, and that you can be turned away from volunteering for a company, will never be too far out of my mind. The fear and guilt associated with feeling replaceable is a constant thread in my professional development, and I think that some of the frustrations that I hear from more experienced leaders in firms about “kids these days” is rooted in that experience.

THE ZWEIG LETTER December 4, 2017, ISSUE 1226

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