White Water Associates’ mission is to provide top-quality, competitively priced laboratory and consulting services in the fields of analytical chemistry, environmental analysis and ecology.

White Water Associates began in 1985 when founder Bette Premo of Amasa started the company in her basement before moving to the current location at 429 River Lane.

The company’s headquarters underwent a major expansion in 2011, doubling in size. It continues to grow, opening a second office last year in Kewaunee, Wis.

Current owners Sally Hedtke and Jen Toivonen purchased White Water Associates 2 1/2 years ago. Hedtke has been with White Water Associates since 2016 and Toivonen joined the company in 2020.

LAB ANALYST Natasha Shucha prepares a water sample for testing at White Water Associates. (Jim Paul/Daily News photo)

Their areas of expertise compliment each other, with Hedtke handling the business operations and Toivonen heading up the laboratory.

Toivonen said even though Amasa seems remote, it has not been a problem for White Water Associates.

“It is really easy for our clients. It is pretty central, even though we are isolated. Copper Harbor, Ironwood or even to the east down to Menominee, we are centrally located,” Toivonen said.

“We are basically one to two hours away from a majority of the U.P., so we get a lot of clients that just drive their samples to us because it is not that far,” Hedtke added.

White Water Associates offers water analysis in its laboratory, testing samples taken in and also discharged. White Water Associates’ customers range from large mining companies, utilities and municipalities to businesses such as bars and restaurants or campgrounds.

WHITE WATER ASSOCIATES is at 429 River Lane in Amasa. (Jim Paul/Daily News photo)

White Water Associates can even be of service to an individual homeowner — anyone who has concerns about their water.

Hedtke said that ever since the water crisis in Flint, people have become increasingly more concerned about just what is in their water.

“People are kind of realizing what is in their water, that it is very important to your health,” Toivonen said. “You do not taste arsenic or uranium, but you need to know if it is in your water.”

One notable project White Water Associates now does is studying COVID, RSV and norovirus in wastewater for the state of Michigan.

White Water Associates also does work for the Great Lakes Environmental Center and locally for the Dickinson Iron District Health Department, testing for e-coli so local lakes are safe for swimming.

WHITE WATER ASSOCIATES is at 429 River Lane in Amasa. (Jim Paul/Daily News photo)

White Water Associates does environmental consulting as well, performing studies of the mussels, reptiles, birds, invasive species and more inhabiting lakes or other water bodies. Currently they are doing a study for We Energies identifying the different species of birds in a given area.

Scientists and technicians in the ecology department are up before dawn in the spring, summer and fall collecting data and will be busy all winter writing up the reports.

White Water Associates employs 26 skilled workers, with six in the ecology department that include biologists, molecular biologists and chemists. Toivonen said that White Water Associates has a reputation as a good place to work and coordinates with universities to offer internships that draw top-notch talent.

“We want to stay in Amasa and continue to have the ability to reduce a little of the brain drain, where people think that they have to move downstate to get a job,” Toivonen said. “They can come and work at White Water Associates and be a scientist.”

Changes in the way the U.S. Postal Service handles priority mail in the Upper Peninsula have created challenges for how White Water Associates does business, Hedtke and Toivonen said. Water samples clients collect often need to be at the laboratory within 24 or 48 hours to test accurate, but that is no longer possible in the region through USPS since January.

White Water Associates had to hire someone to pick up samples at a courier service, Hedtke said, though the problems still are better for clients than the alternative.

“They could still drive it here. You cannot drive down to Lansing,” Hedtke said. “The closest lab that would do the analysis we do is downstate. You would not want to drive eight hours to bring your sample there.”

With White Water Associates’ main competition coming from a state laboratory, Hedtke said it is customer service that sets them apart.

“If there is an issue, we are going to track people down,” Hedtke said. “When someone calls on the phone, I answer. A lot of our customers know that when they call us, we are going to help them figure it out.”

White Water Associates is open 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. For more information, go to www.white-water-associates.com or call 906-822-7889.