International Bottled Water Association | NEWS RELEASE | November 15, 2016
Wichita employee earns national award
Nashville, TN – The International Bottled Water Association (IBWA) today announced a Wichita, Kansas employee has won the prestigious Plant Manager of the Year award for 2016.
Bill Baker, a plant manager with Hall’s Culligan Water (Wichita, KS), was handed the title at IBWA’s Annual General Meeting as part of the 2016 IBWA Annual Business Conference in Nashville, Tennessee.
In making the announcement, IBWA Board Member and Convention Committee Co-Chair Dan Kelly said Mr. Baker is unanimously described as a man of value, integrity, and honesty.
“His leadership, professionalism, hard work, and knowledge make him a true asset to his company,” Mr. Kelly said.
“Bill earned his industry knowledge the hard way,” he said. “He started off at Hall’s Culligan as the route sales and service manager. But leadership quickly noticed the great job he was doing and asked if he was up to the challenge of running the plant, which he was.”
“Bill took the initiative to train himself—he scheduled phone calls and visits with others who are successful in the bottled water industry. He now pays it forward by sharing his knowledge with his team and ensures that they are cross-trained so that everyone knows every function of his bottled water plant.
“Every year since Bill started managing this bottled water facility, it has received IBWA’s Excellence in Manufacturing designation. He is a man committed to excellence in all that he does.
“And that’s what makes Bill Baker IBWA’s Plant Manager of the Year for 2016,” said Mr. Kelly.
Since 1963, IBWA has been recognizing the contributions and achievements of bottled water professionals. The IBWA Plant Manager of the Year Award acknowledges the hard work and dedication that these individuals exemplify to their companies and the bottled water industry. The plant manager makes a tremendous impact in achieving business goals and objectives for each bottler member of IBWA. It is the plant manager who makes sure, on a daily basis, that bottled water is a high quality and safe product for consumers and customers.
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NOTE: Photos/head shots available upon request
Media Contact:
Chris Hogan
chogan@bottledwater.org
703.647.4609
The International Bottled Water Association (IBWA) is the authoritative source of information about all types of bottled waters, including spring, mineral, purified, artesian, and sparkling. Founded in 1958, IBWA’s membership includes U.S. and international bottlers, distributors and suppliers. IBWA is committed to working with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which regulates bottled water as a packaged food product, to set comprehensive and stringent standards for safe, high-quality bottled water products.
In addition to FDA regulations, IBWA member bottlers must adhere to the IBWA Bottled Water Code of Practice, which mandates additional standards and practices that in some cases are more stringent than federal and state regulations. A key feature of the IBWA Bottled Water Code of Practice is a mandatory annual plant inspection by an independent, third-party organization.
IBWA is proud to be a partner with Keep America Beautiful and a supporter of Drink Up, an initiative of former First Lady Michelle Obama and the Partnership for a Healthier America (PHA), which encourages Americans to drink more water more often – whether from the tap, a filter, or in a bottle. Choosing water is always the healthy choice.
