Hidden Values of the ROW Stewardship Accreditation

One of our greatest opportunities to expand the Right-Of-Way (ROW) Stewardship Accreditation is communicating the value of accreditation relative to the costs. There are the obvious costs of the accreditation fees and reimbursing the auditors, and the more subtle costs of making lasting changes to your ROW vegetation management program to meet the necessary certification criteria. So, how do we show the value exceeds the costs? What kind of truthful marketing claims can be made by accredited utilities?

This article highlights some rarely discussed benefits of accreditation by reviewing three of the five principles outlined in the ROW Stewardship Council’s Accreditation Standards for Assessing IVM Excellence.