Wendi Goldsmith
Jim Whitehead uses his background in engineering and project/program management to bring rigor to our largest and most complex assignments in the role of Director of Projects. Earned during nearly forty years of engineering, business development, contract administration, program management, and executive leadership, his versatile skillset makes him a valuable player here. With years of corporate experience at Raytheon, Jim is well versed in the art of persuading big business and large institutional clients to understand the need for change in policy and adoption of new technical solutions. He is a recognized leader in promoting improved environmental management by industry.
Jim’s love affair with Chemistry began in high school chemistry lab. It’s a classic story – Jim, with the help of his friend, blew up one of their experiments and he was hooked. Jim’s fascination with the field led him to Penn State for a degree in Chemical Engineering. After college Jim worked on the design and construction of chemical plants, cutting his teeth on some of the high technology of the time. Early on he worked on a variety of projects including many first-of-a-kind technologies. Even before the advent of the Clean Water Act in 1972, Jim had noticed how the common waste stream handling practices were inefficient and potentially unsafe.
Here’s how Jim’s environmental wheels started turning – “Back in the early days of regulation, our team adopted a concept that we called Source Segregation and Control. We started segregating and treating waste streams at the source as opposed to treatment at the end-of-the-pipe. This way, it was easier and more cost effective to treat the individual waste streams. Most plants have several different units that all produce unique waste streams. Typically, all the fluids were dumped into the same pipe and the treatment for the combined stream was very expensive, and more importantly, difficult.” Although the Source Segregation and Control approach has become the industry standard, Jim and others at Raytheon’s Badger Division were real visionaries to devise the strategy at the onset of regulations.
As Jim assumed increasing responsibility in his career, he became involved with the nitty-gritty details of getting the job done right, not only from an engineering perspective, but also from the business angle. He became actively involved in the Project Management Institute and became an instructor in project management techniques as well. He honed his skills in negotiation and client relationship management in the process of developing new clients and initiating contracts, as well as maintaining and expanding those relationships over many years. “I saw early in my career how important and influential it was to be on the frontline with a client where you could really help them make the best decisions, not only for their bottom line, but for the environment. I was driven to accomplish this wherever I could.” Eventually Jim went on to receive his MBA from Northeastern University in Boston.
Jim is unbelievably modest about his impressive career. If you ask him, he’ll just say that he worked at Raytheon’s Badger subsidiary for 35 years before joining the Bioengineering Group back in 2001. One has to really pry to find out he was one of the team of individuals that started Raytheon’s environmental division back in ’94! This venture ultimately became a $40+ million business with operations worldwide. He became a Vice President of their Environmental Services Division, clearly no small achievement. “I saw much change and made some good friends along the way. There is a lot to look back on with much pride and satisfaction. Sometimes it was not simple – that’s for sure! Some of the most hair-raising and challenging situations arose in places in Latin America where I was leading initiatives working with clients whose attitudes and priorities were worlds apart. But with conviction and perseverance, we convinced them that protecting the environment could also benefit the bottom line.”
Jim’s convictions led him into leadership roles bringing environmental values to the world of industry closer to home. Building upon years of loose affiliations and exchange of ideas, Jim was one of the charter members of the Environmental Business Council of New England, and he remains on its Board to this day. The EBC is an active forum for networking, information exchange, and policy leadership by and among industry, consultants, and government. “EBC has played a defining role in helping establish New England as an environmental center of excellence. Today both federal and state agencies recognize EBC as the spokesman for the environmental industry and seek our opinions on critical legislation and regulations. They know that EBC understands the need for regulations that both protect the environment and permit businesses the flexibility to implement them in the manner that best suits their economic and market situation.”
Jim gets very animated when he starts talking about his experience at the Bioengineering Group. “At this stage in my career, I love working with so many talented individuals who share my passion for effective environmental results. I truly believe we have both the ability and opportunity to make a positive contribution that will improve environmental conditions with virtually every project—and, we are truly motivated to make the most of that opportunity. Our team here employs cutting-edge technology to solve problems and we always work to craft a win-win solution for everybody involved.”
Jim was attracted to the Bioengineering Group’s interdisciplinary approach and commitment to low impact development techniques, recognizing the fundamental philosophical similarity to the Segregation and Source Control concept he had helped pioneer decades earlier. “When you look at the way nature handles and treats water and pollutants, you find the best treatment begins right at the source as opposed to downstream. Front-end treatment is synergistic with the natural world. It makes more sense to treat stormwater on a roof or in a swale versus in the drain pipe or collection system.” Jim has enjoyed taking the systematic business and technical strategies he refined during his industrial wastewater management career, and applying them to watershed management, green building design, and ecological restoration projects. “I love that we apply an Interdisciplinary Approach at the onset of a project. That is when you can incorporate and plan for things. Take a Green Roof, for example, if you plan to have one at the start of the project, you won’t find out at the end of construction that the structure can’t support the added weight! But if you plan ahead you have usable open space and less need for stormwater processing infrastructure – since there is less runoff.”
His passion is watershed management because he believes water is becoming, and will be, the scarcest resource in the world. “We really need to both protect our watersheds and learn to use water more efficiently. I hope someday what we do here isn’t as unique as it is today so that everybody understands the importance of sustainability in all development and construction.”
Jim does get the opportunity to create a perfect world with his hobby – model railroading. We bet his miniature landscape has a few vegetated swales of its own! Jim takes the train on the road for shows at Children’s Hospital and The Museum of Science with his fellow train club members. Jim has lived in Winchester, MA for 25 years. He and his wife Linda have two grown children. Ask him about his three young grandchildren and you’ll see a smile from ear to ear! “I am at a point in my life where I want my final career chapter to focus on things my kids and grandkids are going to truly benefit from. I am really happy to find myself doing just that.”