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WithersRavenel President and CEO Jim Canfield, PE, will be the featured speaker at the Greater Raleigh Chamber’s upcoming C-Suite Perspectives program on Friday, August 14, at The Umstead Hotel and Spa in Cary.
The Chamber’s bi-monthly speaker series connects attendees with accomplished local executives for candid conversations about leadership, strategy, growth, and the realities of guiding an organization through change and complexity. Registration begins at 8 a.m., followed by the program from 8:30–9:30 a.m.
For Jim, those topics reflect a career spent growing alongside WithersRavenel and helping prepare the company for its next generation of leadership.
A Career Built Alongside WithersRavenel
Jim joined WithersRavenel in 1990 as the first engineer hired by founders Tony Withers and Sam Ravenel. Initially hired to lead the firm’s land development group, he took on increasingly significant leadership responsibilities as the company expanded its services, geographic presence, and ability to support public- and private-sector clients. He has served as president since 2013 and now leads the company as President and CEO.
During Jim’s tenure, WithersRavenel has developed from a growing Cary engineering firm into a multidisciplinary engineering, planning, and consulting company serving communities and clients across North Carolina and the Southeast. Today, more than 460 employee-owners provide services spanning land and site development, water and sewer utilities, environmental services, stormwater, geomatics, GIS, funding, finance, and infrastructure asset management.
That growth has involved more than adding employees, offices, and services. Jim has consistently emphasized the importance of developing people, creating opportunities for future leaders, and maintaining a strong organizational culture as the firm evolves.
Building a Culture of Employee Ownership
One of the most significant chapters in Jim’s leadership has been WithersRavenel’s transition to employee ownership.
The company began transitioning from private ownership to an Employee Stock Ownership Plan structure in 2014 and became 100% employee-owned in 2019. Jim helped champion an ownership culture in which employees understand how their work contributes to the company’s performance, client experience, and long-term success.
That employee-owner mindset is closely connected to WithersRavenel’s core values of integrity, respect, collaboration, quality, sustainability, and community. It also supports Jim’s broader approach to leadership: giving people opportunities to grow, preparing them to make decisions, and building an organization that can remain strong beyond any individual leader.
At C-Suite Perspectives, Jim will discuss how WithersRavenel has approached leadership development, delegation, professional growth, and culture while navigating sustained organizational expansion. The conversation will also explore the role that engineering, planning, utilities, environmental services, and public-private development play in shaping thriving communities throughout the region.
Recognized Leadership with a Long-Term Perspective
Jim’s contributions have earned recognition beyond WithersRavenel. Earlier this year, he was named to Business North Carolina’s Power List for the fourth consecutive year, placing him among the state’s most influential private-sector leaders. The recognition highlights professionals helping guide organizations, advance economic growth, and contribute to communities across North Carolina.
The upcoming Chamber conversation will give executives, business owners, developers, professional services leaders, and community leaders an opportunity to hear the experiences behind that recognition. Attendees can expect practical perspectives on developing people, protecting culture during periods of change, strengthening an employee-owned company, and maintaining a focus on long-term community impact.
