Nick DeBenedictis, Chairman, President and CEO of Aqua America, knows what makes a good CEO. So says Craig Ey, Editor-in-Chief of the Philadelphia Business Journal in an editorial in the business journal’s May 22nd edition.

Serving as CEO of Aqua America for the past 23 years, the water company has risen from a market cap of $100 million to $4.5 billion during his tenure.

Bryn Mawr-based Aqua America, the largest publicly traded water company in the United States, supplies water to several Chester County municipalities including West Chester Borough and East Goshen Township.

Mr. DeBenedictis understood early on, according to Ey, that his company had a vested interest in the community and that as CEO, he worked for all of the stakeholders – customers, employees and shareholders.

As a result of that approach, Aqua America has seen earnings growth for fifteen consecutive years, all while DeBenedictis has held on to his core principles of caring about people and the community.

DeBenedictis is retiring as CEO of the Bryn Mawr-based company after 23 years as CEO but will remain on as Chairman. An anomaly in the current era of CEOs that average about 10 years in charge, he has given more time to the Greater Philadelphia area than most and led a company which has never had an employee strike during his tenure.

In the editorial, Ey tells about a meeting DeBenedictis had with the then CEO of Scott Paper, Albert J. Dunlap that helped to confirm his ideals. The pair debated the merits of community involvement and being a benefit to the people that worked for their companies, with Dunlap sharing that people “are just another raw material.”

Dunlap would eventually sell Scott and move on to Sunbeam, where he was sued by the SEC due to accounting fraud and banned from becoming the officer or director of any public company.

In the end, Ey summarizes, the differences in philosophy are striking but show us that there is room in corporate America for a leader who values his people and community. By giving back to the community that you serve and fostering a healthy environment for your employees, the bottom line can show even better results than those who continually pursue bigger earnings while paying little mind to anything else.

Read Ey’s editorial reflection of DeBenedictis’ tenure at Aqua America in Philadelphia Business Journal here.

The Chester County Chamber of Business & Industry will honor DeBenedictis as the Chamber’s CEO of the Year at their annual dinner on November 12th at Longwood Gardens. Details and tickets available at CCCBI here.

The following tribute video honoring DeBenedictis was produced in 2012 by Junior Achievement of Delaware Valley: