A new name
DeBenedictis says a sometimes-overlooked aspect of growth is making sure your company’s name accurately reflects what the company is. It is something Aqua America addressed nearly three years ago.
In 2003, the company was still known as Philadelphia Suburban Water Co., which had existed in various incarnations since 1886. Up until the late 1980s, the company had never really ventured outside suburban Philadelphia, but between 1985 and 1990, it acquired three Chester County water systems, and its growth-by-acquisition strategy was born.
By 2003, Philadelphia Suburban Water Company no longer described the business. In January 2004, it adopted the name Aqua America.
To DeBenedictis, it was more than an aesthetic change; it announced the company’s arrival on the national stage.
“It’s how we got our name out there to the regulators and government officials in the other states,” he says. “Ten years ago, Philadelphia Suburban fit us perfectly. But soon we realized it no longer affected our goals and vision. So we changed it, and now the name reflects that we are in the water business, and we are throughout a large part of America.”
DeBenedictis says that as a company grows and changes, it is important that the name identify it accurately. Don’t allow sentimentality to rule your company’s name; if the name no longer reflects the company, find one that does.
“Our name change sent a very important message to the regulators, that we have the benefits of a large, domestic water company, but you get the benefits of it being locally run,” he says.
HOW TO REACH: Aqua America, http://www.aquaamerica.com/