Customer relationship coordinator Vince Catanese and distribution customer service manager Brian Letcher both started working for G-MW’s predecessor, the State Rivers and Water Supply Commission, in the early 1980s.
Brian said when he began, he certainly did not envisage being with the water corporation for so long when he signed on.
“I was home visiting my family in Rochester when the construction maintenance team called me up and asked me if I’d be interested in a few weeks’ work,” he said.
“At the end of the six weeks they asked me if I be interested in staying on and I just continued from there.
“When I started, a lot of the guys in my team were older than me, and I remember going home to my partner and saying, ‘You wouldn’t believe it, some of these guys have been with the company for over 10 years’ and now here I am 40 years later.”
Vince started working for the commission as an administrative assistant at the Pyramid Hill office, with different roles at G-MW taking him to Kerang, Tatura, and eventually Rochester.
“Everything about the job back then was done manually,” he said.
“You would spend a lot of your day handwriting customer bills, whereas now you’d just push a few buttons on the computer and the system does the rest.
“It was similar for our customers who used to write out their irrigation orders and place them in what was essentially a mailbox at the end of their street to be picked up by the water bailiff.”
Brian, conversely, spent most his early years with the water corporation out in the field. However, he said things were likewise very different then.
“Working in a construction team, we would start the day by lighting a fire and putting the billy on.
"I worked with a lot of great characters. I had to learn how to play cards as they would play during every smoko or lunch break. There were a lot of fun times had back then.”
Brian said he was pleased he stayed with the corporation beyond those initial six weeks.
“Things have been really favourable to me. I’ve had some great opportunities and worked with some fantastic people.”
Vince said he too was pleased with how things have worked out.
“I’ve enjoyed the different roles I’ve had at G-MW,” he said.
“My current position as a customer relationship coordinator is really varied. It gives me the opportunity to get out of the office and speak to our customers, which I find really rewarding.”
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