Editor’s note: This year’s Groundbreaking Women in Construction Conference is taking place this week in San Francisco, and in accordance, Haskell.com visits with Industrial Water Market Leader Tiffany Shaw, a truly groundbreaking professional who recently was named to the inaugural Bizwomen 100.
Haskell paired a talented and respected engineering leader with an area of tremendous need when it chose Tiffany Shaw to head its new Industrial Water Market in 2018. There was every reason to expect positive results.
Five years later, the results have not been positive. They’ve been explosive.
Existing food, beverage and beer, wine and spirits clients, many of them among the world’s best-known brands, eagerly accepted a new component of Haskell’s integrated delivery model, while new customers welcomed the opportunity to work with a design-build leader that counts water and wastewater among its core markets. That combination has driven 700% growth in the past three years. In 2022, sales were just shy of five times the budget.
“Our Industrial Water Division is blossoming,” Operations President Pete Kinsley said. “Tiffany has done a great job serving the internal business units, so that has gone as planned. But equally good, she’s bringing new customers and new projects to the company that are completely outside those existing relationships.”
Naturally, Shaw’s success with the market has earned her internal recognition, and she also has soared onto the national business radar. Bizwomen.com, the American City Business Journals’ national site for women business leaders, named her to its inaugural Bizwomen 100.
Editor Betsey Guzior writes of the distinction, “This group of executives and entrepreneurs represents companies from Boston to Honolulu, from Seattle to South Florida. The group includes women who’ve launched their own companies and who’ve become Fortune 500 C-suite leaders. They’re advocates for their communities; they’re disrupting their industries. It’s a group with stories to share — 100 women who could mentor, guide and serve as examples for others.”
Shaw’s example is one of the right person in the right role at the right time.
For decades, manufacturing companies thought dilution was the solution for industrial waste and waterways suffered. Today regulation is increasingly stringent, and technology has advanced significantly, allowing manufacturers to determine just how clean is clean.
With more than 20 years of experience as a civil and environmental engineer, wastewater treatment is a field where her training and talent intersect with her passion for sustainability.
“I love solving problems,” she says. “The water piece just really sparked my interest. Making sure people have access to clean water impacts everyone’s daily lives.”
Public-sector water and wastewater treatment facilities have been a core market for Haskell. Shaw’s team has offered the same expertise to the private sector, where producers of snack crackers, yogurt and wine, to name a few, depend on fresh water and must ensure that the wastewater they create won't cause harm to the environment.
Having previously served as Water Market Design Director, Shaw became a team of two when she started Industrial Water. It now comprises eight designers. Asked how she supported such expansion, she said simply that she worked very hard.
The market’s formation and growth have been groundbreaking. Traditionally, manufacturers procured wastewater solutions outside their facilities and process contracts. Already a leader in integrated project delivery, Haskell brought yet another aspect under its umbrella.
“We've seen such strength in that market because it was such a need that she filled,” Kinsley said. “We brought them the ability to deliver facilities and wastewater as a single contract, and that's provided huge benefits to our customers. We knew the need was there, and now that we are approaching it with intention and discipline, we see that the need is even more significant than we had contemplated.”
Providing clients with the best possible service and solutions motivated Haskell to create the new standalone market, but another benefit was the opportunity to give Shaw a chance for professional growth.
“Tiffany is an environmental engineer and a business person,” Kinsley said. “That combination allowed her to push into the technical aspects but also engage directly with customers, think strategically and build a business. She’s hardworking, industrious and has high integrity – and so she’s earned every bit of that recognition she’s received.”
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