Complete Filtration joins the Veyra family, mission

Rachel Kroeger

Staff

November 9, 2026

MARSHFIELD – A recently rebranded group of water treatment companies, Veyra – formerly Integrated Water Services (IWS) – has added a North Central Wisconsin company to its growing family: Complete Filtration Resources.

“We made three acquisitions this year,” Veyra CEO Cody Phipps said. “Complete [Filtration] was one of those, and we made the decision that we’re not going to be a portfolio of companies. We’re going to be an integrated growth platform. So, Veyra is now the umbrella brand [and] the IWS brand will go away.”

Now operating as Complete Filtration Resources, a Veyra Company, President Travis White said the company will keep both its name and existing footprint in Marshfield.

“I remember when I started 12 or 13 years ago, there were maybe 11 or 12 of us in a room, and that was the whole company,” he said. “We were quite small, [and] we technically were very capable, but even though it had been around for 20 years, our business was really still in its infancy, at least compared to where we are today.”

Through the years, White said Complete Filtration built its reputation matching the steadfast work ethic of the dairy industry – a primary market for the company – designing, manufacturing, and installing process filtration and waste treatment systems for customers worldwide.

“We grew very organically for many years through our reputation, hard work, [and] a really tight-knit team working hard together in an industry, primarily dairy, [where] that’s the expectation,” he said. “As we continued to grow and evolve as an organization, we did one acquisition in 2021 over in Europe, and that turned out quite well for us.”

Several years later, White said Complete Filtration began “looking for a business partner” – drawing on its experience having itself acquired a company prior.

“We went back and interviewed those employees, [asking], ‘What do you think made this successful?’” he said. “The No. 1 thing off everybody’s lips was culture: ‘We fit so well within your organization and how you operate.’”

That’s why White said cultural fit was a top priority in the search for Complete Filtration’s next partner.

“We had quite a good number of suitors, and we went through the whole process,” he said. “I think we interviewed over 15 different companies and at the end of the day, what Veyra brought to the table was a very good cultural fit. We enjoyed the leadership team, [and] we enjoyed how they approached us.”

Phipps said the acquisition of Complete Filtration “fundamentally changed” what was IWS – both in terms of the company’s size and stature.

“They were actually bigger than IWS,” he said. “The former IWS was clearly anchored in the wastewater space, mostly on the municipal side, and we wanted to expand and broaden the capabilities that we can bring to bear on the market.”

What Complete Filtration offered then IWS, Phipps said, was that market expansion, helping the now-Veyra grow beyond the municipal wastewater industry.

“We had done our homework, [and] we really liked the dairy industry,” he said. “Travis and the team like to say they’re a protein company, so we [also] like the protein part of the business, and what I came to realize is there’s a protein craze going on almost worldwide…. Complete [Filtration] are experts in that.”

With capabilities spanning milk protein isolate (MPI), milk protein concentrates (MPC), lactose removal, and more across the dairy industry, Phipps said Complete Filtration not only offered Veyra a way into the market, but a way to innovate it.

“We love their expertise, they have a phenomenal culture, [and] they built themselves from the ground up in the middle of Wisconsin,” he said. “I love their culture, and I told [Veyra’s] board that [it’s] a culture that resonates with me. It’s got the roots of what we want to build here, and they have built a phenomenal reputation.”

A water-full purpose

The name Veyra, Phipps said, is a name constructed from the Latin root “‘vera,’ which means truth; and ‘pura,’ which means pure, and to convey.”

“So, the idea behind the Veyra brand is to convey truth and purity,” he said, “and our tagline is ‘Purity by Design.’”

Owned by Sciens Water – an “alternative investment management platform headquartered in New York,” per scienswater.com – Phipps said the companies that comprise Veyra all serve different areas of the water treatment and filtration industry.

“If you think about water and process filtration, almost everything we consume in this country uses water, whether it’s process filtration, wastewater, drinking water – it’s one of the most important natural resources in the world, and I like to say that resource is under attack,” he said. “So, our goal is to build a great company with a purpose around water reclamation, process filtration, [and] that services the industry, communities and the environment.”

Beyond its attractive milk protein-filtration capabilities, Phipps said Veyra leadership is hoping Complete Filtration’s culture permeates throughout its family of companies.

“I was a table pounder [and] I wanted to make this acquisition [happen] not only because of what they bring to the table, but what they were going to help us do to the overall company in terms of changing our culture,” he said. “I was super excited about this, and I often tell people, I think this will be one of the best acquisitions I’ve ever done in my 30–40-year history in business.”

Phipps’ enthusiasm for Complete Filtration, White said, shone through in how Veyra approached the partnership negotiations.

“The discussion [was] always around, ‘Of course we’re interested in your organization due to some economics, but really we’re interested in your people, we’re interested in the bench that you’ve built, [and] in the way you operate your company,’” he said. “Many of the other organizations we looked at, it was much more financial, much more transactional.”

With nearly 110 employees, mostly in the Central Wisconsin area, White said ensuring a good fit for Complete Filtration’s new partner was not only paramount for leadership, but for staff as well.

“We have a good number of employees who came to us from other organizations that were acquired by a big fish that came in and drove a lot of change fast without understanding the business, and it really allowed us to bring on a lot of employees,” he said. “Complete [Filtration] has a team we knew would be sensitive to us finding a new partner, what that partner looked like, and how we functioned as a team together, so that was top of mind.”

That’s why White said it wasn’t just about who presented the largest offer; it was about finding a company that would preserve Complete Filtration’s team and, therefore, the growth mindset that has made the company successful.

“We’ve seen +30% growth almost every year I’ve been here, and we want to continue that,” he said. “[The search] was really about how [to] ensure we get to continue to grow our organization, and we know the number one way to do that is to retain the people.”

Approachable, collaborative

With six companies currently under its portfolio belt – Complete Filtration, Hi-Line Industries, Tetrasolv Filtration, KLa Systems, Advanced Equipment and Services, and M|MBR Systems, per goveyra.com, another point White said helped sell Complete Filtration on Veyra was its overall vision for the water treatment industry.

“Cody came in with his vision, and it was, ‘Look, we want to purchase your company [and] we want to be part of this, not only because you’re growing and we want to continue that growth, but we have a group of other companies we’ve acquired that are in the same space,’” he said.

Though owned by a private equity (PE) firm, Phipps said Veyra and its subsequent companies are in good hands with Sciens Water.

“There are a lot of PE firms out there that are all about flipping companies, making money, and cutting costs,” he said. “What I found really interesting about Sciens is about 10 years ago, they made the decision to go all in on water. They are passionate about the water space to the point where they got rid of all their other investments and they focus only on water and water infrastructure, and they have a track record of building successful companies.”

Their shared passion for the water industry, Phipps said, helped fuel early discussions between Veyra and Complete Filtration.

“The discussion was about what we want to build, and we were able to point to our private equity partner and say, ‘Look what they’ve done over here – they’ve actually done it, and they want to do it again,’” he said. “They care about the environmental impacts, they want us to track how much water we reclaim, how much water we process, how much water we clean up from forever chemicals. We want to believe in that purpose [and] inspire our people with that.”

The inspiration aspect, Phipps said, is another reason why Veyra specifically wanted Complete Filtration’s culture to be absorbed by its other portfolio companies – something White added is well underway.

“We had about 30-plus personnel come to Wausau from all over the United States [across] all the different Veyra companies, and we spent a couple of days team building, talking about best practices, [and] really learning from each other, but, most importantly, just building relationships across the organization,” White said. “It was just a fantastic two days. We really got to put a lot of faces with names, take that culture, and start building upon it throughout the organization.”

Outside of the Veyra family, Phipps said he hopes to assure clients of each company that one thing the culture will always be is “customer-centric.”

“Everything they liked about Complete [Filtration] or IWS or any of the companies that are now Veyra, we want to build upon that and not take a single step backwards, but only move forward in servicing our customers,” he said. “Our focus now is building a great organization, and that means bringing the companies together, building on the culture, [and] adding new capabilities with a growth mindset.”

‘Continuing to grow’

Having never been to Wausau prior to Veyra’s acquisition of Complete Filtration, Phipps said he’s found “every time I go up there, I leave with a smile on my face.”

“These guys are leaders in that town. It’s a young, vibrant team in a great industry with a great reputation, and they’re fundamentally helping to change Veyra in exactly the direction that we want to go.”

White said despite being acquired by Veyra, he looks at their leadership “as business partners I can call if I’m having an issue.”

“I have no problem stating the facts, giving an opinion, [and hearing] something back that’s very similar, but we can have those discussions, and I don’t have fear around that,” he said. “That really allows us to continue to move forward and continue to grow as a company.”

Since the acquisition, White said Complete Filtration has doubled the size of its Wausau office and continues “to grow and run out of space.”

“In Marshfield, we are currently looking at adding a new warehouse [with and] additional 20 offices as we continue to grow, so this isn’t, so this isn’t an acquisition… where jobs are relocating,” he said. “We’re continuing to grow in Central Wisconsin.”

With a number of different companies available to offer expertise and opportunity, White said he’s most looking forward to collaborating with leadership across Veyra’s family and seeing how they can all benefit one another in the pursuit of pure water.

“We just learn from each other through very open, honest conversation,” he said. “Of course, there’s technology, cash influx, the availability to go out and do more acquisitions – those are all things that a lot of people can bring to the table. But in this particular instance, I really think it’s about the collaboration of companies that are just in a sweet spot to really help each other grow in the future.”

For more on Complete Filtration Resources, visit gotocompletefiltration.com.