Project Managers Are Hired Guns For Big Jobs

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Construction project managers are building Northwest Arkansas — taking on multimillion-dollar projects with a constant eye on their deadlines and budgets.

And they’re doing it at a young age. Of the five project managers working in Northwest Arkansas who were recently interviewed, two of them were under 30 years old and all five were under 40.

A project manager works for the construction company to oversee and manage all aspects of a project. He or she works with the architect and owners on one side and the subcontractors and job superintendent on the other.

The project managers we interviewed were all well educated, with degrees in construction management. And they all seem fully aware of what it takes to make a project successful — teamwork, communication and coordination of detail. They each talked about construction safety and how important it is to a project’s success.

Patrick J. Tenney, Baldwin & Shell vice president, said a good project manager has skills that guide the whole project.

“We look for someone who is organized and is an effective communicator and a motivator,” Tenney said. “They have to be able to guide the subcontractors.”

Another attribute that local construction companies seem to be instilling in their project managers is a love for the company. Each one of the five interviewed talked about their construction team, how motivated they are to get the project done right and their pride in the company.

Brent Farmer at Oakridge has high hopes of staying with the company but wants to eventually be in a position to hire the project managers. Steve Marshall at Nabholz is convinced that his company builds the best, but Randy Flowers at Kinco and Crossland’s John Priest would likely argue with him. Jim Minor also presents a good argument as to why the Baldwin & Shell way is “the right way.”

Brent Farmer — Oakridge Builders Inc.

Age: 29

Years in construction: Nine

Years as project manager: Nine

Residence: Tontitown

Education: Associate’s degree in construction management, Oklahoma State University at Okmulgee

Brent Farmer became a construction project manager right out of college nine years ago, but with the projects he has had, it feels like 20 years of work, he said. Farmer led the $23 million construction of the Rogers High School with a round design that created plenty of hurdles. The school was built in slightly less than two years.

Farmer credits a “really good team” on the project for making it happen.

He also handled the construction of the Springdale Aquatic Center, where most of the construction was underground.

“My first project out of college, the job involved excavating the side of a hill under a building,” Farmer said.

In all, Farmer estimates he has more than $55 million worth of work in place now.

Early coordination among all of the different participants in a project helps a project run smoother, Farmer said. He explained that a project manager’s job is a lot of communication and coordination among everyone involved.

“It’s kind of like being a conductor with an orchestra,” Farmer said. “You lead, but you’ve got to have their ideas and their input.”

Before starting the high school project in Rogers, Farmer said Oakridge held a daylong planning session for everyone involved.

That extra effort went a long way toward building a unified team for the project, he said.

Meeting deadlines is a matter of “knowing where you are in the project at any given time” and then finding ways to keep up if something begins to slip, he said.

Asked about his goals for the future, Farmer said he’d like to work his way up to a division manager for Flintco Inc., the construction arm of Flint Industries, Oakridge’s corporate owner.

Randy Flowers — Kinko Constructors LLC

Age: 32

Years in construction: 10

Years as project manager: 10

Residence: Greenland

Education: BS in construction management, John Brown University

A drafting teacher had a big influence on Randy Flowers when he was growing up in Homer, Alaska. The teacher not only helped Flowers realize his own love for construction, but he also led him to Northwest Arkansas. Flowers followed in his footsteps and sought a construction management degree from John Brown University. Flowers originally planned to seek an architectural degree, but the hands-on experience of project management has him hooked, he said.

Flowers is handling a nearly $6 million construction project for First Baptist Church of Siloam Springs that includes several buildings, including a new sanctuary and conversion of the existing sanctuary into classrooms.

“It’s going to be a good job for us,” Flowers said.

He also served as project manager for the $10 million renovation of Reynolds Razorback Stadium. The project had a seven-month time schedule that made it more difficult but added to Flowers’ pride in the final product.

“Trying to pull everyone together to keep the project on deadline and on budget” is the project manager’s biggest challenge, he said. Constant communication with the architect, job superintendent and subcontractors helps keep a project running smoothly.

“The good jobs we’ve had are ones where the architect and owners and everyone worked well together, and we had great subcontractors,” he said.

Flowers also served as project manager for construction of the Randal Tyson Track Center and the $3.2 million addition to the psychiatry unit at the Veteran’s Administration Hospital.

Steve Marshall — Nabholz Construction Corp.

Age: 34

Years in construction: 27

Years as project manager: 10

Residence: Elm Springs

Education: BS in construction management, John Brown University

Steve Marshall said construction has been part of his life since he was 7 years old and helped his father with construction side jobs he was doing. Now Marshall’s leading the way on multimillion-dollar projects for Nabholz, such as the $33 million housing project the company is handling for the University of Arkansas.

They’re building four, four-story housing units that will each have a basement, and one includes full dining serves. Marshall said as a project manager he often handles three to five projects at one time. But because of the complexity of this project, Marshall is handling it alone. He’s actually working out of an office Nabholz has established in one end of the existing dining hall the company will eventually tear down as the project proceeds.

When starting a project, Marshall said he tries to identify possible problems or challenges and figure out how to deal with them.

“This project is not about building four buildings,” Marshall said. “This project is about logistics and risk management.”

Big projects aren’t really any different from small projects, he said.

“It’s a matter of focusing on detail and working through each phase,” he said. Teamwork plays a big part in making sure the deadlines are met. Marshall said that Nabholz projects may be a little easier because the company has so many different divisions that he’s often coordinating with Nabholz subcontractors.

“If the team synergy works, it works,” Marshall said. “If the team doesn’t work together, it won’t be as successful.”

Marshall said his biggest job to date is likely the UA housing project he’s currently coordinating. But he also served as project manager on the $15 million Benton County Jail and the $4.4 million chapel and school for St. Joseph’s Catholic Church, a $5.8 million building project for Carroll Regional Medical Center and a $5.1 million project for Stribling Packaging in Rogers.

John Priest — Crossland Construction Co.

Age: 27

Years in construction: 10+

Years as project manager: Four

Residence: Tulsa

Education: BS in construction management, Oklahoma State University at Stillwater

John Priest has been traveling back and forth from Tulsa for months, but the journey’s been a good one — it’s convinced him that Northwest Arkansas is where he wants his young family to be. Priest said he and his wife Ashley are planning to move here soon.

“This is my first job in Northwest Arkansas, and I really like it,” he said.

Priest is the project manager on the $18.4 million construction of a new Fayetteville Library.

The library is the biggest project he has handled so far, but the $16.6 million Cherokee Secure Data Center he completed not long ago isn’t far behind. That project was quite the learning experience for Priest. The most challenging parts of any construction project are the startup and the completion, he said.

As he was starting the Data Center project, Priest was also completing an $11.4 million Armed Forces Center.

Once a good team is put together for a project, Priest said the rest is a matter of working out a schedule, sticking to it and constantly coordinating with subcontractors.

“Walking a job and being present on a job as much as possible makes a difference,” he said.

The subcontractors and everyone working on the project realize you want to know about any problems or issues that come up as the job proceeds, if you make yourself available at the job site, Priest added.

“You’ve got to have an open line of communication, remove the barriers,” he said. “You’ve also got to be a good liaison between them and the architect.”

Priest started his construction career in high school but thought at the time it was just something to keep him busy and bring in some spending and college money. He learned later that a college degree can be earned in construction management and jumped right on it.

Jim Minor — Baldwin & Shell Construction Co.

Age: 37

Years in construction: 16

Years as project manager: Three as project manager and five as project coordinator

Residence: Springdale

Education: BS in construction management, John Brown University

Jim Minor is a new recruit to Northwest Arkansas construction, but he’s no stranger to Baldwin & Shell and not far from home. He’s been with the company for eight years, but most of that time he worked out of its Little Rock office. He moved north in early October.

A life in construction was “legacied” to Minor, he said, explaining that his father worked construction. His father actually worked for Baldwin & Shell until 1969 and worked for another construction company until his death in 1997.

“Mr. Shell had known me all my life,” Minor said. “When I became ripe, they picked me.”

And they obviously had a good harvest. Minor is very committed to the company and what he calls “the Baldwin & Shell way,” which is “the right way.”

“If the plans call for 6 inches of concrete, we don’t place 5 and a half,” he said.

Since arriving in Northwest Arkansas, he’s taken on the Pinnacle Parkway Tower project, some tenant finish-out projects in the tower and the Best Motors building off Moberly Lane in Bentonville.

Minor’s biggest project to date, he said, is the $12 million expansion project at Baptist Health Medical Center. It was a 65,000-SF project built atop three patient care wings that continued to operate during the project.

“Keeping on time and on budget” are the most challenging aspects of a construction project, he said, adding that experience is what a good project manager needs.

Minor’s experience has helped him gain a feel for scheduling and an understanding of the construction processes, which are his biggest assets as a project manager, he said.

Despite all of his planning, Minor said there has to be a good team to put it to work. Baldwin & Shell does a lot of negotiated work. Picking a construction team based on ability rather than bids leads to “better quality construction,” Minor said.

“It gives the owner the best opportunity to get the most building for his money,” he said.