The PASS Award originated in 2009, when David Barry and Jill Busch travelled around with their team to clean and inspect water storage tanks. All around the country, they would engage with operators and clients in discussing their innovative ideas and ‘simple fixes’ on site, but most were too shy for public presentations. To capture these ideas, David and Jill created a simple and accessible entry form requiring a description, implementation method, potential improvements, and before-and-after images. This allowed for the sharing of these important ideas without the need of hours of resources to develop a technical paper or run a trial!
Their creative team developed a logo, modifying the original slogan “Problem Identified, Solution Supplied” to the more professional “Problem Accepted, Solution Supplied” much to David’s disappointment. The initiative was generously handed over to WIOA, with the AquaSafeSkills team sponsoring the annual award. WIOA has published a booklet of entries each year, and the PASS Award has thrived for over 12 years. Each years overall winner has enjoyed joining the following year’s WIOA New Zealand Study Tour as part of their prize.
WIOA would like to thank David Barry, Jill Busch and the team at AquaSafeSkills for their sponsorship and ongoing support of this award. Nominations are currently open for 2024, and close on the 1st July. To check out the latest 2023 PASS Booklet, click here.
There’s an idea to compile a booklet of all winning ideas to preserve them in the future and despite today’s cultural shifts, the original slogan, “Problem Identified, Solution Supplied,” remains a WIOA favourite…