BILTMORE FARMS
EXECUTIVE TEAM
We are committed to providing an unparalleled level of quality service and excellence. Our leadership team promises to deliver an experience that is genuine and authentic to the high ethical standards and celebrated traditions of Biltmore Farms since 1897.
John “Jack” Cecil joined Biltmore Farms in 1984, serving in various capacities until being named President and CEO in 1992. Along with his late father, George H.V. Cecil, Biltmore Farms has focused its efforts on community building through developing an extensive portfolio of real estate projects, including a regional shopping mall, a mixed-use urban village, master planned communities, corporate offices, hotels, apartments, medical office buildings, and over 1,500 homes. Prior to his tenure with Biltmore Farms, Cecil was Assistant to the President at Foremost McKesson International in San Francisco.
As a steward of community development across Western North Carolina, Cecil serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors of Dogwood Health Trust; Trustee of The Duke Endowment; Director of NC GlaxoSmithKline Foundation; Director and Executive Committee member of The Research Triangle Foundation of North Carolina; Director of Barron Collier Management, LLC; Governor of Urban Land Institute Foundation, and as Member of the Governor’s Advisory Committee for Western North Carolina Recovery. Cecil also serves as past Chair and member of the National Advisory Board of the Institute for Emerging Issues.
Cecil received his Bachelor of Arts degree from UNC-Chapel Hill and a Masters in International Management from the American Graduate School of International Management (Thunderbird).
Cecil and his wife, Sarah, have been happily married since 1993 and they have four wonderful sons, Thomas, Hugh, John, and Owen.
Lyle Johnson joined Biltmore Farms in 2005 and served as the Vice President of Finance before his appointment to Chief Financial Officer in 2016. His more than 25 years of experience in financial accounting and analysis, strategic planning, and forecasting for commercial, hospitality, and residential real estate has led to a modernized approach to financial planning for Biltmore Farms.
Before joining Biltmore Farms, Johnson worked at GE Capital, where he was responsible for all financial aspects of a $5.3 billion real estate portfolio. He began his financial career at Security Capital Group, where he was responsible for analyzing more than $23 billion in real estate transactions.
Currently, Johnson serves as the President of the Ramble Homeowners Association Board. Previously, he served as the President of the Biltmore Lake Homeowners Association Board from 2007 until successfully transitioning the Association Board to residents in 2022. He was also a member of the Dogwood Health Trust Investment Committee, the Western Carolina University MBA advisory board, a graduate of Leadership Asheville (class of LA 33), and was listed as Biltmore Beacon’s Top 40 under 40 Emerging Leaders in 2012.
Johnson received his bachelor’s degree from New Mexico State University.
Ben Teague joined the Biltmore Farms team in 2018 after serving as the Executive Director of the Asheville-Buncombe County Economic Development Coalition (EDC) for more than nine years. His focus at Biltmore Farms is crafting and executing strategy to turn real estate and relationships into capital investment and jobs for the community.
Throughout his career, he has placed more than 60 economic development projects and over $1.5 billion in capital investment in multiple states. Teague’s work has been featured in Forbes, Fast Company, Wall Street Journal, Popular Mechanics, National League of Cities Case Study, Business Expansion Journal, and Trade and Industry Magazine. In 2017, he was named one of North America’s Top 50 Economic Developers by Consultant Connect and received Development Counselors International’s Top 40 Under 40 award. He led the Asheville-Buncombe County EDC team to become one of 50 Accredited Economic Development Organizations (AEDO) in the nation.
Ben earned his Bachelor of Business Administration degree from Mississippi College and a Masters in Business Administration from the University of Mississippi. He has completed the University of Oklahoma’s Economic Development Institute and earned the Economic Development Finance Professional (EDFP) designation from the National Development Council.
Brad Reedy joined Biltmore Farms in 2018 as an Accounting Manager before being promoted to Controller in 2020. Over the past five years, Reedy has led several important initiatives, including overseeing research, vetting, and implementation of Biltmore Farm’s updated accounting and finance software. His main duties include serving as Biltmore Farms’ Controller and ensuring the accuracy and GAAP compliance of financial statements for all Biltmore Farms entities. Additionally, he oversees financial accounting and analysis, strategic planning, forecasting, and budgeting while also expanding lender relationships in the surrounding Asheville area.
Reedy received a Bachelor of Science in Business Management from the University of Alabama at Birmingham and a Master of Accountancy from the University of West Florida. He is a certified public accountant in Florida and North Carolina, graduate of Leadership Asheville (class of LA 41), graduate of Henderson County’s United Way Rising Leaders Program, and has an agribusiness certification from Harvard School of Business.
Reedy volunteers with Habitat for Humanity, Bounty of Bethlehem, and Beloved Asheville, and has served on the Board for Conserving Carolina on both the finance and audit committee, focusing on bringing the Ecusta Trail Project to fruition.
Carol Steen serves as Vice President of Human Resources, Information Technology, and Security at Biltmore Farms, where she leads enterprise strategy across people operations, technology systems, and organizational security. With HR leadership experience spanning healthcare, nonprofit, education, and private-sector organizations, she brings a broad and integrated perspective to her role. Since joining the company in 2019, she has focused on strengthening internal infrastructure, enhancing employee engagement, and supporting operational excellence across the organization.
Carol is actively engaged in regional workforce and economic development initiatives and serves in leadership capacities with MyFutureNC, the Economic Development Coalition for Buncombe County, the Early Childhood Education and Development Fund for Buncombe County, the Biltmore Lake and Ramble Charitable Funds, North Carolina State University’s Employer Advisory Council, MAHEC, and Pisgah Legal Services.
She holds a Bachelor of Arts from UNC-Chapel Hill and an MBA from North Carolina State University’s Jenkins Graduate School of Management. She also maintains dual HR certifications from HRCI and SHRM and is currently pursuing a Certificate of Management Excellence through Harvard Business School.
Kyle Highberg joined Biltmore Farms in 2022 and currently serves as Vice President of Hospitality. In his three years with the company, he has played a pivotal role in advancing Biltmore Farms’ hospitality division, leading initiatives such as implementing a global procurement system and restructuring the organization’s Business Intelligence (BI) hospitality software.
As Vice President of Hospitality, Highberg oversees all functions within the hotels division, guiding operational performance, supporting hotel development, and leading the management teams across the Biltmore Farms portfolio.
Highberg is deeply committed to community and industry engagement. He serves on the board of the Tourism Development Authority LIFT Fund, is vice president of the Asheville Buncombe Hotel Association, sits on the Advisory Board for Western Carolina University’s Hospitality & Tourism Program, contributes to the Foundation Board at Asheville-Buncombe Technical College, and is a board member of the North Carolina Restaurant & Lodging Association.
He earned a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration with a minor in Human Resource Management from Bellevue University.
Thomason oversees all phases of development and construction for Biltmore Farms’ commercial projects as well as the company’s homebuilding operations. During his tenure with Biltmore Farms, some of his notable projects include the commercial expansion at Biltmore Park Town Square, The Parkway Center’s Fresh Market, The Ramble’s Living Well Center and Longmeadow Park, the DoubleTree by Hilton Asheville-Biltmore expansion and renovation, the Residence Inn Biltmore remodel, the new construction of the Hampton Inn & Suites Asheville-Biltmore Village, along with residential community development within The Ramble and Biltmore Lake. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Clemson University’s College of Architecture and a Master’s degree from Auburn University’s College of Architecture, Design & Construction. Thomason is on the Board of Directors for the Black Mountain Home for Children, Youth and Families, and previously served as Chairman of the Western North Carolina Public Lands Council and Chairman of the North Carolina State Licensing Board for General Contractors.
