Finance
Water Finance Conference coming to The Water Tower in 2024
The Water Tower Global Innovation Hub in Buford, Georgia, will host 10th annual event for CFOs, finance professionals Aug. 6-7
The Water Finance Conference, a two-day educational seminar for water utility finance executives, will host its 2024 event Aug. 6-7 at The Water Tower Global Innovation Hub in Buford, Georgia. The Water Tower is located about 45 miles from Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.
The Water Finance Conference convenes executive-level utility professionals, including directors, general managers, CEOs, CFOs and city finance managers along with consultants, financial advisors, legal professionals and service providers involved in financing municipal water, wastewater and stormwater systems. Since 2015, the event has been hosted annually by the journal Water Finance & Management, published by Benjamin Media, Inc., in partnership with the National Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA).
The Water Tower, a first-of-its-kind nonprofit water innovation hub born out of Gwinnett County Department of Water Resources, celebrated its grand opening in April 2022. The $33.7 million campus is a global hub for water utilities, researchers, companies and other water-related organizations to collaboratively solve critical, real-world water and environmental challenges. The campus features multiple laboratories, a field training center and water technology demonstration areas. It is located next to Gwinnett County’s F. Wayne Hill Water Resources Center, an award-winning advanced wastewater treatment and resource recovery facility.
“We are very excited to bring our tenth annual Water Finance Conference, exclusively for financial decision makers in the utility sector, to The Water Tower in 2024,” said Rob Krzys, president of Benjamin Media, Inc. “The Water Tower focuses on applied research, technology innovation and much more. We’re thrilled to bring a discussion on financial innovation to their campus for a couple days in August. See you in Georgia in 2024!”
The Water Finance Conference is the only conference in the U.S. water utility sector exclusively tailored to finance professionals. Leading topics covered include rate studies and utility rate setting; low-income affordability/customer affordability programs; IIJA/Bipartisan Infrastructure Law fund implementation; applying federal funding locally; leveraging Clean/Drinking Water SRFs; budgeting and short/long-term financial planning; and regulatory issues affecting utilities – Lead and Copper Rule Improvements, PFAS, etc.
Speakers generally include a mix of drinking water/clean water utility finance officers, general managers, public affairs directors, municipal advisors, EPA officials and service providers. Presenters and panelists have also included city and county finance managers, current/former mayors and city councilmembers, and others with a vested interest in the funding of water infrastructure in the United States.
The 2024 conference is sponsored by main event sponsors NACWA and Synario, with additional sponsors Wade Trim and tabletop sponsor Synario.
The Call for Speakers is now open for the 2024 conference. Click here for details and to submit an abstract. Additional conference details are available at waterfinanceconference.com.
Today’s installment of campaign-related news items from across the country.
* When it comes to campaign finance laws, both parties’ campaign committees have faced restrictions on how much money they could spend in coordination with candidates’ campaigns. Those limits are now effectively gone.
As MS NOW’s Jordan Rubin explained, “The Supreme Court’s GOP-appointed majority ruled for Republicans in their campaign finance challenge to restrictions on political parties spending on ads with input from the party’s candidate.”
A Punchbowl News report added that the ruling, written by Justice Brett Kavanaugh, “handed Republicans a massive win” and is likely to “usher in the biggest change to campaign finance law since the Citizens United decision.”
The same report went on to note that Tuesday’s high court ruling “allows for unrestricted coordination between candidates and party committees. That means committees, like the NRSC or the DCCC, can run unlimited TV ads with allied candidates. More importantly, they can also buy those ads at the much cheaper rate offered to candidates. … Tuesday’s SCOTUS ruling will also eradicate the need for independent expenditure arms at party committees.”
Republicans already enjoyed a significant financial advantage over Democrats. The Republican-appointed justices just made it easier for the GOP to capitalize on that advantage.
* In Colorado’s closely watched Democratic primaries, incumbent Sen. John Hickenlooper fended off a challenge from the left, but some of his colleagues weren’t as fortune: Democratic socialist Melat Kiros ended long-serving Rep. Diana DeGette’s career in Denver’s congressional district, while state Attorney General Phil Weiser scored a major upset by defeating incumbent Sen. Michael Bennet in a gubernatorial primary.
* In the race for North Carolina’s open Senate seat, former Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper leads former Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley in the latest New York Times/Siena poll, 50% to 43%, pointing to a possible pickup opportunity for Democrats.
Google Cloud and FactSet, a provider of data and artificial intelligence solutions to the financial markets, plan to jointly develop AI agents designed to assist with portfolio operations, deal advisory and corporate finance.
Tuesday’s Supreme Court ruling changing certain federal campaign finance limits could make a big difference in the battle for control of Congress this fall, giving Republican candidates who have been getting outraised by opponents direct access to more party cash.
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