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When Ken Wightman was asked how he plans to spend his time now that he has retired from his position as chairman emeritus of engineering and design firm David Evans Enterprises Inc., he gave the standard answers 鈥� family activities, travel and golf. But he also said he’ll stay involved with transportation planning.

鈥淚 have good relationships in the (Oregon) Legislature and business community, and want to help develop a stronger transportation system throughout the state,鈥� he said.

Wightman served as president of David Evans and Associates from 1998 to 2004, as CEO of DEA and board member of parent company DEEI from 2004 to 2010, and chairman of the board of DEEI from 2010 to 2014.

Coinciding with Wightman’s retirement is another life-changing event for him and his wife: their 12-year-old grandson is coming to live with them to go to school in Portland.

鈥淲e’ve really been enjoying it, even though it has its challenges,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e’ve been empty nesters for 20 years, but I just had to rent a tenor sax and buy some soccer equipment and watch him play indoor soccer for about two and a half hours.鈥�

Wightman said that when his company, Timberland-McCullough Inc., merged with David Evans and Associates in 1986, the company had 60 total employees; now it has more than 1,000.

Part of that success comes from being able to adapt to different market conditions, he said.

鈥淭hat means being nimble when things are going well and being able to move and go into different areas when they aren’t,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e rode the telecom boom and then got involved in transit light rail and have been doing work on the New York (World) Trade Center site since 2002.鈥�

Wightman said the company’s success comes down to its people.

鈥淚t truly means a lot to me that the folks there are fantastic, and we’ve been able to find outstanding professionals,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e give them a lot of support to do what they do best and they have exceeded our expectations. We’re one of the largest engineering companies on the West Coast.鈥�

Al Barkouli, chairman and CEO of DEEI, said he is 鈥渉onored and grateful to follow in Ken’s footsteps.鈥� He praised Wightman’s contributions to the company.

鈥淟eadership is about relationships, in my opinion, and if you look up relationships in the dictionary, you’ll find Ken’s name there,鈥� Barkouli said. 鈥淗e’s a man people like and trust, and he gets along and cares for people a lot.鈥�