When it comes to PR, he’s on top of it! Since joining the Birmingham Water Works Board in January of 2014, Rick Jackson has hit the ground running without any anticipation of ever stopping with his fresh new ideas and perspectives on marketing the state’s largest water utility. He serves as the Spokesperson and Public Relations Specialist for Birmingham Water Works.
Prior to coming on board with BWWB, Jackson spent several years as a television news broadcaster. He worked as a general assignment news reporter for the NBC and FOX affiliate in Tupelo, Miss. prior to spending five and a half years as a morning reporter/anchor at Birmingham’s CBS affiliate (WIAT-42). He’s an award winning journalist, having been honored for his feature reporting and strong presence on breaking /spot news stories. He says he thought long and hard about this major career change.
“I knew it was time for a change. I was a bit nervous about leaving television to take on this new venture, but I must admit, it was one of the best decisions of my life. Television will always be my passion and first love, but PR is a whole new world that I’m very excited about, “Jackson says.
Just within his first year with the Water Works, he’s managed to bring in new ideas with employee engagement and strengthening the communications with their customer base. He started a new program, “Water Works Water Boy” in which he travels to different high schools in the area to speak with athletic teams about the importance of staying hydrated while presenting them with a 10-gallon water cooler. He’s also put his expertise in television to work by producing several positive videos for the utility company. Now, he’s looking forward to launching his next big project, BWWB-TV.
“I’m super elated about BWWB-TV. There are more details to come, but I will say that it’s basically an in-house news powerhouse and it’s all about BWWB. We have to keep our employees and customers engaged. We have to tell our own story. Send our own message. I’m just so fortunate to have a general manager and board of directors that are so supportive of my wild ideas.”
He says his main job is being a dad. He enjoys every moment he has with his 3- year-old son, Ethan. He’s also a notable member of Iota Phi Theta Fraternity, Incorporated- one of the nine historically African American Greek-letter organizations of the National Pan-Hellenic Council.
So, is returning to television completely out of the question for Jackson?
“I loved being a journalist. So, I can’t say that I’ll never go back to TV. However, being on this job makes it very hard to consider. I enjoy what I do here,” says Jackson.
