Homegrown leader: Steve Carlisle

Wightman makes thoughtful transition in choosing longtime employee as new president

Steve Carlisle knows what it takes to climb the corporate ladder.

After graduating from Michigan State University almost 30 years ago, Carlisle was offered a position as an inspector at Wightman, which serves the Great Lakes region.

He’s held a variety of positions at the architecture, civil engineering and surveying firm throughout his career. But his crowning achievement was becoming the company’s president in April.

“The opportunity to lead Wightman aligns with my personal and professional aspirations, and I’m excited to continue the firm’s lasting legacy of success,” Carlisle said.

He is the sixth president of the Benton Harbor, Michigan-based company.

He recalled how he got his start at Wightman.

“When I first interviewed, my boss hired me as an inspector because they didn’t have an engineering role,” Carlisle said.

Although it wasn’t the position he was seeking, he decided to take the job. Before he started, an engineer at Wightman decided to leave.

“So, a position opened up for me,” Carlisle said.

He’s been with Wightman his entire career, and his responsibilities have grown through the years.

“It’s just been really fulfilling to be a part of the firm that I started with right out of school,” he said.

Carlisle said he’s been associated with many meaningful projects throughout his tenure at Wightman, but there’s one that stands out.

It was a small “run of the mill” intersection project in Kalamazoo that cost about $250,000.

“Nothing to speak of, but it sure did a lot for my career as an engineering professional,” he said.

It was a controversial project, and Carlisle was front and center explaining the initiative to the public and political officials.

“(It) really taught me a lot of things, helped me grow in my career, take on more responsibility,” Carlisle said. “My boss let me run with it. I got a few gray hairs over that, but it really taught me a lot about interacting with the public and the importance of following standards and being able to convey that and communicate and be responsive.”

Throughout his 27 years at Wightman, Carlisle has served in a variety of roles that prepared him for his position as president.

He was named director of engineering in 2015 before he transitioned to the role of government sector leader in 2022.

“Which allowed me to get a little bit more exposure to some more work outside of the engineering department,” Carlisle said. “Because we do work across our three main services — surveying, architecture and engineering — and so it allowed me to get a little more familiar with that, and me being outside of my typical client base.”

Carlisle also served on Wightman’s board of directors from 2012 to 2023. That included a couple of stints as the chairman of the board, which helped him understand the broader sense of the work being done at Wightman rather than just his purview of engineering and government work.

During that time, he worked closely with former Wightman President Matt Davis. That experience helped Carlisle understand certain aspects of the president’s role.

“It really helped me prepare for what I was getting myself into,” Carlisle said.

Davis joined Wightman in 1994 and will continue with the firm as a full-time special project manager. He became president in 2015.

The 78-year-old company took two years to identify its new president.

“Steve’s proven leadership abilities, industry knowledge and commitment to Wightman make him the perfect fit to lead our firm into the future,” said Brian Lieberg, Wightman’s chairman of the board, in a press release. “We are confident that under his leadership Wightman will continue a path of growth, while still providing quality services and exceeding our clients’ expectations.”

Davis said Wightman made the right choice by selecting Carlisle to serve as president.

“His experience in operations, business development and leading the board gives him a broad perspective of our clients and business,” Davis said. “He seeks to understand people, caring about what they care about. The result is relationships built on trust and a high level of commitment to our strategic plan.”

View the article written by Northwest Indiana Business writer Chas Reilly.