Sterling McNeill, Akron ’04, has been recognized for his work in the water treatment market with the Next Gen Award by the national Water Quality Association, which goes to rising stars under 40.
McNeill began his career with Parker-Hannifin Corporation (a Fortune 250 ® corporation) in 2005 as a product support specialist, having served in various sales and marketing roles. He currently serves as business development manager for the Fluid Systems Connectors division in Otsego, MI, managing its market platform and product line and sales. The drinking water market and Life Science market is an emerging market with everchanging products and technologies.
The water treatment market is a small community. McNeill attributes “just old fashion selling” and “developing relationships with people within the industry throughout the last seven years” as reasons for the recognition. He also says, “A lot of what I learned from my time as a Phi Delt risk management chairman and recruitment chairman prepared me for leadership.”
The Water Quality Association is a national organization MacNeill began to volunteer with and eventually became its vice chairman of communications committee. The association works to ensure that drinking clean water is safe, particularly in light of the Flint, Michigan disaster.
Sterling earned a bachelors in communications and later an MBA from Indiana. He and his wife Kate live in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
WQA is a not-for-profit trade association representing the residential, commercial, and industrial water treatment industry whose education and professional certification programs provide industry-standardized training and credentialing. The WQA Gold Seal certification has been certifying products that contribute to the safe consumption of water since 1959. The WQA Gold Seal program is accredited by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and the Standards Council of Canada (SCC).
