Lance Cheely brings a practical, delivery-focused approach to his role as The HFW Companies’ director of projects for the Southeast region, grounded in 17 years of professional experience across planning, design, and project leadership.
His work is driven by a clear belief that strong project outcomes come from equipping project managers with the tools, systems, and support they need to lead confidently and deliver at the highest level.
Earlier in his career, Lance spent 5 years running his own landscape architecture practice, giving him firsthand insight into the realities of business operations, client relationships, and delivery accountability. He later joined CRANSTON, which became an HFW company in 2022. There, he served in multiple leadership capacities, including 5 years as director of landscape architecture and 2 years as its manager of projects.
During his tenure there, Lance was a key contributor to CRANSTON’s leadership team for 3years and played an active role on the firm’s Unanet A/E (ERP) and Unanet CRM implementation teams, helping align project delivery with scalable, firm-wide systems.
Lance’s leadership philosophy centers on people—developing project managers, fostering clarity in roles and expectations, and building teams that are both technically excellent and resilient under real-world pressures. He is known for bridging strategy and execution, translating high-level goals into practical processes that support consistent, high-quality delivery across disciplines and offices.
Lance holds a Master of Business Administration degree and brings a thoughtful, business-minded perspective to project management, with a focus on delivery certainty, accountability, and long-term organizational health.
In his firm-wide role at HFW, Lance works closely with leadership and project teams to strengthen project delivery practices, mentor emerging leaders, and support the firm’s continued growth.
Outside of work, Lance is a husband of 15 years and a proud father of four, a role that continues to shape his values around leadership, service, and stewardship, both professionally and personally.