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Rural Utility Business Advisor (RUBA) Program

Training Available with RUBA!

The Rural Utility Business Advisor (RUBA) program offers training in various locales statewide on a cost reimbursable basis. Participants may be eligible to earn credits for certain RUBA training courses offered in conjunction with the University of Alaska, Fairbanks. Course descriptions follow.

Utility Management (32-Hour Courses)

  • Introduction to Utility Management

    Covers principles and practices for managing small water and wastewater facilities in rural Alaska. Topics include basic terms, key concepts, and an overview of five utility management functions: personnel, financial, organizational, planning, and operations management.
  • Personnel Management

    Presents tools a rural utility manager needs to maintain a productive work force. Topics include personnel policies and procedures, safety policies and programs, selecting and hiring staff, orientation and training, regulations and the law, communications and conflict, and motivation and management.
  • Financial Management

    Provides an overview of financial operations for rural utilities. Topics cover basic processes and procedures for financial reporting, fund accounting, budgeting, collections, risk management, audits, and rate setting.
  • Organizational Management

    Describes organizations that may own and operate water and wastewater facilities. Topics include governance, authority and accountability, level of service, customer agreements, roles and responsibilities, the utility ordinance, and regulations.
  • Planning Management

    Details the planning process as applied to managing small water and wastewater facilities in rural Alaska. Topics cover how and why to get the public involved in planning, developing and evaluating water/wastewater alternatives, and starting a construction project.
  • Operations Management

    Offers specific skills and knowledge that a manager needs to oversee a rural utility. A manager needs to understand an operator’s duties and the time needed to perform those duties. Topics include safety, operations and maintenance scheduling, data collection and reporting, public relations, inventory control, and contingency planning.
  • Elected Officials

    Provides an overview of government for community leaders in rural Alaska. Topics include an official’s roles and responsibilities, the Open Meetings Act, parliamentary procedure, ordinances and resolutions, financial management, and sustainability.
  • Utility Clerk

    Covers skills needed to work effectively as a clerk within a small rural utility. Topics include a clerk’s roles and responsibilities concerning public relations, meetings, office and records management, elections, financial management, and ordinances and resolutions.

RUBA Information Systems

Have you ever attended a RUBA course before? Look yourself up: Search RUBA Training Attendance Lists

Want to know about future classes? Check our RUBA Training Calendar

Also, check out the Alaska Training Coalition Calendar .

Contact for More Information About the RUBA Program

Trisha Sullivan
Division of Community and Regional Affairs
Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development
550 West 7th Avenue, Suite 1650
Anchorage, AK 99501
Phone: (907) 269-4549
FAX: (907) 269-4563
e-mail: patricia.sullivan@alaska.gov

Revised 12/20/2023