Meet our team

We are pleased to introduce Ben Rigby as the next Executive Director of Montana Rural Water Systems (MRWS)! The board and staff are excited for Ben to join the "Montana Rural Water Family." Ben will be responsible for managing the federal/state programs, staffing, and operations of MRWS. Ben previously worked for the city of Helena Water Department and graduated from Vincennes University with an Associate's Degree in Land Surveying and Geodetics. Ben holds 1ABC certification from the MDEQ Operator Certification Program

Cody Marez joined our Team in March of 2025 as our Administrative Assistant and accepted the Apprenticeship Coordinator position in October 2025. I grew up as a Military child moving around some, was born in South Carolina, lived in Guam and California before moving here to Great falls for the last 20 years now. I have been working with another non-profit placing Foreign Exchange students all over the United States. Currently finishing my bachelor's degree in business Managment.

He will assist in day-to-day office operations as well as the main point of contact for Memberships, as well as manage all social media (Facebook, Instagram etc.) as well as our website and Marketing. As well as be the Apprenticeship Coordinator for Montana Rural Water.

When I get asked the question, “Where are you from?” I do not have a straightforward answer. I was born in Atlanta, went to high school in Cleveland, traded in Ohio for upstate NY and finally settled in Montana (I’ve lived in this state longer than any of the others). Along the way, I studied Environmental Geochemistry at SUNY New Paltz and finished my Masters in Earth Science at MSU Bozeman. As an undergrad, we visited numerous wastewater treatment facilities, and I was the only student overly excited to see daily operations at the plants-even the operators thought I was weird!

After graduating, I worked for a year as a geologist on an oil rig in North Dakota where I was responsible for steering the drill path. After the bust of the industry in 2015, I started to fulfill my longtime goal and became the Lead Operator of a small water/sewer district in Montana. Over the years, I learned everything I could about water – from well production, distribution, valves and hydrants, collection systems, lift stations, wastewater treatment, to effluent and solids disposal. I also learned about sampling and compliance, as well as water rights and augmentation.

Recently, I had the luck of joining the Montana Rural Water family as the new Training Specialist. It is an honor to be a part of this team and I look forward to assisting operators across the Treasure State.

Haley holds a B.S. in Water Quality and Hydrologic Science from Metropolitan State University and brings extensive hands-on experience in regulatory water quality work. She began her career as an Asset Management Specialist for the South Adams County Water and Sanitation District in Colorado before joining the Montana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) as an Environmental Science Specialist. At DEQ, Haley led permitting projects requiring significant stakeholder outreach, technical interpretation, and consensus-building across municipalities. In addition, she served as Director of Access Investigations for the Public Land Water Access Association, where she managed site investigations, maintained detailed project records, and led community engagement initiatives.

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Now based in Anaconda, MT, Haley is passionate about Montana’s rivers and mountains and enjoys taking full advantage of the outdoor opportunities they offer. As a Source Water Protection Specialist, she is excited to apply her experience and dedication to help rural communities protect their drinking water sources through collaborative, science-based solutions.

Kyla has a B.A. in Biology from the University of Providence as of 2020. She began her career in water as a Water Quality Specialist for the City of Great Falls Water Treatment Plant for two years. She holds a Class 1B Operator license as well as certifications for bacterial water samples such as E. coli and total coliform. Currently, Kyla is a resident of Kalispell, MT and loves living in the mountains and Flathead Valley!

Kyla started out as a Circuit Rider with Montana Rural Water but has since accepted a Source Water Protection Specialist position. She has experience with not only lab analysis, but knowledge of contaminants, environmental hazards, and source water health. She now uses her expertise to implement source water protection plans and emergency response plans for water systems.

Please contact Kyla with any questions regarding source water protection or emergency response planning.

Leo has over 31 years of experience working with water and wastewater and is certified class 3A, 4B, and 3C. He has experience in water operation and maintenance, chlorination, submersible pumps, distribution systems, security, construction, O&M, UV systems, Net DMR, permit applications, sampling, and certification. Leo worked with engineers in one major upgrade to the Water System as well as installation on a new well and elevated 250,000-gallon storage tank. He helped facilitate three major upgrades to the Wastewater Treatment and Collection Systems as well as installation of the UV Disinfection system.

Leo has served as a member of the Water and Wastewater Operators Advisory Council from 2015 to 2021. Leo won the Water Operator of the Year award from Montana Rural Water for 2016.

Kurtis Hillier is a Water Quality Action Specialist for Montana Rural Water. Kurtis has 9yrs of experience in Water and wastewater. He is certified in both with, 3A, 3B, and 3C classifications. Kurtis is the former Public Works Director for the Town of Wibaux. While there Kurtis helped over see several Water, and one Wastewater improvement projects. Kurtis will be focusing on Wastewater concerns for Tribal Communities throughout Montana.

Dennis is a born and raised Montanan and lives in Laurel, MT. He has been married to his wife, Emelie, for over 30 years. Dennis has over 35 years’ experience in the water purification industry. Most recently he learned the waste management side of things working in the Bakken oil field and surrounding communities. Dennis current holds 4A, 4B, 1B, 2E-OT certifications

Dennis enjoys coin collecting, welding, woodworking and following the path less travelled into the Montana countryside. Both Dennis and Emelie are proud pet parents.

Dennis has a strong background in membrane technology and surface water treatment. His experience in surface water treatment includes everything from plants, to settling basins, to fast sand to pressure filtration.

Nikki was raised and graduated in Bainville MT. She worked for the past 17 years in local government. She started as a secretary for one year in the City Clerk’s office in Missoula and worked her way up to Deputy City Clerk. During her 8 years in Missoula, she earned her Certified Municipal Clerk designation in 2013. In June of 2014, she moved back to her hometown and became the Town Clerk for the Town of Bainville earning her Certificate of Montana Municipal Clerk designation in 2017. She is new to the MRWS family and is excited to expand her knowledge of the Water/Wastewater Systems.

In her off time, she enjoys gardening, tinkering in the garage, watching her nieces and nephews in all their sporting events and rooting for her favorite hockey team Colorado Avalanche.

Wendy received her CPA certificate from Maryland in 1994 and has been licensed ever since. She transferred her license to Montana in 1997.

Wendy’s career has taken many turns in the last 20 years. After college graduation from the University of Delaware, she worked for an insurance company in Baltimore, Maryland as their Comptroller. That lasted until 1997 when she moved to Great Falls, Montana. She took an interest in the non-profit world when she moved to Great Falls, and worked for the YWCA/Mercy Home as their comptroller and grant writer from 1998 to 2002. At that point, she started her own business as an independent CPA and currently has 3 employees.

Her specialty has become small businesses and non-profits, having over 400 clients – mostly individuals, small businesses and non-profits. Wendy is very active in the Great Falls community and serves on many boards – mostly as Treasurer.

Wendy also specializes in Quickbooks and has become a Certified Quickbooks Adviser. That allows her to have a certification to train clients on Quickbooks. During her non-tax season, she teaches Quickbooks classes and has one-on-one sessions with clients to show them how to best utilize Quickbooks to meet their needs.

For the last few years, Wendy has been traveling the state of Montana teaching Quickbooks classes and working with Quickbooks users one on one to show them how to use Quickbooks to further their business. Since COVID a lot of these sessions can be done remotely so Quickbooks clients all over the world can be helped if we can figure out a time that isn’t the middle of the night for one of us.

Wendy’s second degree from the University of Delaware is in music – specifically clarinet. She plays in volunteer bands throughout Great Falls.

Bobbie began her career in water while serving in the United States Air Force as a BioEnvironmental Engineer. She was responsible for collecting the weekly water samples and performing e.coli testing on them. She also monitored the chlorine levels in the base pools and collected samples from test wells for chemical analysis. Upon receiving an honorable discharge she attended college at MSU Northern and received an Associates Degree in General science and Environmental Protection after completing the requirements for the water/waster water program. Bobbie has 16 years of experience in managing and operating a water and sewer district. She was involved with the successful procurement of funding for an improvement project that was completed in 2012. She oversaw the daily duties of operations and administration. She trained several employees over the years in the basic operation of the district. She was adept at identifying leaks and was instrumental in the district lowering their monthly water loss from a 30% range to less than 10%. Bobbie is committed to helping new operators become proficient in identifying and resolving problems encountered in the day to day operation of their district. Bobbie has always thought the water and waste water operators were the backbone of their communities and is passionate about helping new operators become certified, and helping communities maintain and improve their water and the infrastructure to deliver the water to every home on the system.

Feel free to contact Bobbie for any questions you have about your system.

Roger has over 25 years of experience working with water and wastewater and is certified class 3A, 4B, 3C, and 1C operator- in -training. He has experience in Lagoon operation and maintenance, U V systems, Net DMR, permit applications, sampling, and certification. Roger was involved in 2 major upgrades to the Wastewater Treatment and Collection Systems as well as installation of the U V Disinfection system.

Roger served as a member of the Water and Wastewater Operators Advisory Council from December 2003 to November 2015; where he served as Council President from 2011 to 2015. Roger won the Wastewater Operator of the Year award from Montana Rural Water for 2013, and the Town of Valier won the 2007 Montana Water Environment Association Small system of the year award for "Outstanding Operation and Maintenance and Administration of a Wastewater Treatment System" with Roger as the lead Wastewater Operator.

Contact Roger for any questions you have related to wastewater, water, or training assistance.

Robin has 17 years of water and wastewater experience with 3A, 4B, and 3C certifications. He has experience in lagoon operation and maintenance, land application via spray irrigation, sampling, NetDMR, and discharge permit renewal applications. Robin was involved in a major lagoon upgrade; lift station replacement/rehabilitation projects; water storage tank construction, to include telemetry to the control system; meter installation; sampling and reporting; and fire hydrant rebuilds. Robin has been serving as MRWS Wastewater Technician since 2020 and has conducted several training events during that time.

Tanya was born and raised in the Great Falls area, graduating from Cascade High School. She attended Kinman Business University in Spokane and received a diploma in data entry and computerized accounting. She received her Associates Degree in Accounting and Business Administration Management from Great Falls College – MSU and her bachelor’s degree in accounting from MSU Billings. Tanya started with MRWS in 2009 and became the office manager in 2018.