New Jersey American Water

McDonough leads New Jersey American Water as president, a position he’s held since 2021, though his tenure at the water and wastewater utility date back to 2005. Across the state, Camden-based NJ American Water serves nearly 2.9 million people.

NJ American Water continues to make gains on its efforts to replace outdated and critical infrastructure throughout the state. Most recently, the company began work in Monmouth County valued at $16.5 million.

McDonough has also overseen NJ American Water’s growth. In 2024, the company completed acquisitions of the water and wastewater systems in Salem (for $18 million) as well as Manville’s wastewater system ($6.5 million). Both agreements will also bring improvements to the newly acquired systems – to the tune of more than $50 million invested in the former and at least $10 million contributed to the latter over the next decade.

The utility is also prepared to help protect residents from PFAs. This year, McDonough said things are busy when it comes to mitigating the chemicals amid regular operations. Beyond that work, though, he also advocates for help from those responsible to mitigate further impacts of these chemicals. “We are advocating that the folks who put these chemicals into our society – that they should be responsible to help clean it up,” he told NJBIZ in June. “We are also advocating with both the state and federal government to ensure that funds are available for both public and private water systems to take some of the burden off of customers.”