Set goals - high
goals for you and
your organization.
When your
organization has a
goal to shoot for,
you create teamwork,
people working for a
common good." -
Former Alabama
football coach Paul
"Bear" Bryant
Those words from the
legendary Crimson
Tide coach could be
applied not only to
football teams, but
also to any number
of businesses or
organizations
seeking to achieve
excellence.
Bryant’s assertion
perhaps rings
especially true for
Greenwood’s George
Martin.
Aside from being a
die-hard Alabama
football fan —
autographed Crimson
Tide memorabilia,
including signed
helmets and framed
photos of Bryant and
current ’Bama
skipper Nick Saban,
hang in his office —
Martin has set lofty
goals for himself
and his staff, as he
recently was named
general manager of
Greenwood
Metropolitan
District.
Martin was appointed
to the general
manager post just
more than a week
ago, following the
retirement of
longtime Metro
general manager
Richard Coleman.
Martin, a
Spartanburg native
who has been in the
wastewater treatment
business since 1982,
had been Greenwood
Metro’s assistant
manager since 1995.
The Greenwood
Metropolitan
District is a
publicly owned
utility that
collects and treats
wastewater. Metro
initially was formed
in 1959 as a special
purpose district.
Martin said Metro
acted as a
department of
Greenwood CPW in its
early years, but for
many years has
operated as a
separate entity from
CPW, though Metro’s
bill is mailed with
customers’ CPW bill.
Martin, 60, said he
will look to provide
guidance and
leadership for the
sewer provider.
“The general
manager, to me, sets
the direction of
where Greenwood
Metro wants to go in
the future,” Martin
said. “Of course,
obviously, we have
guidelines from
regulators and we
have our
commissioners who
also set policies
for us. But, all in
all, (the general
manager) sets the
direction of the
organization.”
Metro’s
commissioners
include Bob Haynie,
Tim Burke, Byron
Smith, Henry Watts,
Mike Monaghan and
Gene Hancock.
Martin, who has two
children and five
grandchildren with
his wife of 41
years, Margaret,
graduated from
Spartanburg High
School and initially
embarked upon
cabinet-making as a
career.
He worked in the
cabinet business for
14 years, up until
1982. It was around
that time the
persistence of an
acquaintance led
Martin into the
wastewater treatment
business.
“In 1982, this
gentleman called me
and asked me if I’d
be willing to go to
work for the
Spartanburg Sanitary
Sewer District,
running their
maintenance
department,” Martin
said. “At that time,
I told him no. I
really wasn’t
interested. But then
he called me back
about three months
later.
“At that time, for
whatever reason, I
was ready to talk.
So I went to work
for the Spartanburg
Sanitary Sewer
District and worked
there until 1995,
when I came to
Greenwood Metro.”
Martin said one
long-term goal he
has for Metro as an
organization is an
increased awareness
among the public
about the services
the organization
provides. He also
said it is his
intention that all
personnel with Metro
strive for
excellence in
everything they do.
He noted the need
for continued
efforts in the realm
of construction.
“We have some
construction
projects that we
absolutely need to
do,” he said. “Of
course, the rub
there is financing
them. Can we be
creative? Can we get
grants? All of us in
public works —
whether it be us,
the city , the
county, CPW — we’re
all working from the
same pool,
basically. The same
people are paying
us.”
Martin lauded
Coleman’s efforts at
Metro.
“We made a lot of
progress while
(Coleman) was
manager,” Martin
said. “What I want
to do is build on
the progress we made
in the past.”
