LCSA Board to Change The Authority’s Name

Leesburg – The Loudoun County Sanitation Authority (LCSA) Board of Directors moved a step closer last Thursday at its monthly Board meeting to change the organization’s name. The Board voted to adopt Loudoun Water Authority as its new chartered name, with a trade name of Loudoun Water, pending an examination of the fiscal impact of doing so. Loudoun Water was the top choice among nearly 600 customers, who casted votes for the new name on LCSA’s website this spring. A final decision by the Board will be rendered in May, upon receipt of a sound plan and budget (from staff) for incorporating the change in a measured and fiscally responsible manner. Loudoun Water was the top choice among nearly 600 customers, who casted votes for the new name on LCSA’s website this spring. The consideration to change the name is based on two main factors: research that indicated confusion among its customers about what type of service it offers and its level of affiliation with the County government, and the unique opportunity LCSA has to re-introduce itself to its customers when it moves its headquarters to Ashburn next spring, and opens a new state-of-the-art water reclamation facility.

LCSA staff had struggled for some years with the confusion, which has been exacerbated by a constantly growing customer base. Each year, the percentage of customers who know and understand who LCSA is decreases, due to the rate of newcomers to the service area. In 2006, LCSA conducted a phone survey and some focus groups, looked at media clips and tracked all in coming calls in order to ascertain the level of confusion among customers. The results showed that 80 percent of customers think that LCSA is part of the County government; 75 percent think LCSA is tax supported, and 25 percent think LCSA handles garbage collection in the County. More than half could not recall the name of their water provider when asked. Call tracking showed that up to 9 percent of all in-coming calls to LCSA were not for LCSA but for the County or another entity.

According to Board Member Fred Jennings, a utility consultant with R.W. Beck, “As a virtual monopoly, LCSA is not in danger of losing business due to the confusion, however, the confusion creates a barrier of understanding that hinders our ability to develop a strong relationship with our customers – something we greatly desire and need as we move forward with many critical capital projects, such the Broad Run Water Reclamation Facility, future water storage and supply planning, and the concept of re-using reclaimed water for irrigation.”

LCSA will take advantage of the move to save on the costs of the name change. Items like letterhead and stationary materials were to be changed regardless, due to the impending address change. Other items, like new building signage would also be created regardless, as part of the construction of its new headquarters. The main costs associated with the name and logo change will be the fleet decaling and the uniforms. Staff plans to ameliorate the financial impact of these two items by incorporating the changes to the fleet and uniforms gradually over time. They hope that by taking a longer, staged approach to the change, there will be ample opportunity to communicate the news to customers and the community and confusion throughout the transition will be minimized. LCSA plans to launch the new name and logo officially when it is in its new headquarters in Ashburn, sometime in the spring of 2008. 

                                                           
By Samantha Villegas, Mgr. of Communications


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