Maryland’s largest water utility said Wednesday that it won’t spend $350,000 on building signs with the utility’s new name, after public pushback over what had been publicized as an $850,000 “rebranding” effort.
The Washington Suburban Sanitary Commission, which serves Montgomery and Prince George’s counties, will spend $141,400 this fiscal year to add “Water” to its name on employee IDs, business cards, vehicle decals, hard hats and safety vests. The money also will be used to change WSSC’s motto from “Where water matters” to “Delivering the essential” and to change its logo from a water drop to a “W.”
WSSC already spent $360,000 on consultants who led marketing focus groups, bringing the total amount spent or budgeted to $501,000.
However, utility officials appear to have backed off plans to spend an additional $350,000 on signage after The Washington Post reported last month that WSSC’s board had approved what would become an $850,000 rebranding effort to boost the utility’s “visual identity.” Critics said a public utility with a monopoly should not have to spend money on marketing, particularly as it, like other utilities, continues to raise customers’ rates to replace its aging pipes, pumps and other decaying infrastructure.
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