Tenneys Term Reaches 25 Years With Baldwin & Shell

Patrick Tenney is from the old school. Raised by parents from The Greatest Generation, his marching orders were clear: go to college, find a job and build a career.

And that’s exactly what he’s done. Named president of the Northwest Arkansas division of Baldwin & Shell Construction Co. in 2014, Tenney has been with the Little Rock-based builder for 25 years.

Tenney said he was drawn to Baldwin & Shell due to its reputation for professionalism, stability, and its penchant for pulling down high-profile contracts. In that regard, nothing seems to have changed.

The company’s Northwest Arkansas division, based in Rogers, was recently named the general contractor for the $22 million School of Innovation being built by Springdale School District.

Based on the philosophy of flexible schedules and blended learning through teachers and technology, the facility is the first of its kind in the region.

“This is one that we wanted because of what it means to Springdale,” Tenney said. “I know this is being watched at a national level.”

Baldwin & Shell is also the general contractor for the $10 million parking deck and adjoining 14,500-SF office complex for the Walton Arts Center.

This is the backbone of the center’s expansion, and represents almost half the new square footage being added to the region’s premier venue for live theater.

Jammed into an urban setting on Spring Street with a lot of moving pieces, Tenney described the Walton Arts Center project as a welcome challenge for his company.

Hoping to add yet another prestigious job to the Baldwin & Shell portfolio, Tenney is leading a design-build team vying for the contract on the 3,700-space parking deck at Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport in Highfill.

Tenney thinks his team’s chances are good. Baldwin & Shell, after all, built the largest parking deck in the state — the 2,149-space Harmon Avenue lot at the University of Arkansas.

“We’ve always had a knack of being associated with high-profile projects,” Tenney said.

Other notable contracts over the years include the Vol Walker Hall renovation at UA, renovation of the old Springdale High School, and Bernice Jones Elementary.

Tenney, a UA architecture graduate and Little Rock native, moved to Northwest Arkansas in 1997 as Baldwin & Shell’s division manager. He was still in that role when named to the Northwest Arkansas Business Journal’s 1999 class of Forty Under 40. Since joining the company in 1990, he has served as a project manager, estimator, and vice president.

His latest and highest title, president, came out of the company’s 2013 strategic planning process. Though he described it as uncomfortable at times, opening up the company and looking at what was inside turned out to be the right thing to do.

“We have to always strive to be a better leader,” he said. “It has to be worked on and honed. It taught me to listen better to our people.”

Another thing that emerged from the planning process was heightened autonomy for the Northwest Arkansas division. But with more authority comes more accountability, something Tenney and his colleagues embrace.

“Our whole team came out energized,” he said.

Having been with the company for a quarter of a century, Tenney, 55, has an institutional appreciation for Baldwin & Shell and its role the company played, and continues to play, in shaping Northwest Arkansas.

And as he moves deeper into his tenure, and as other senior managers do as well, the succession plan will increasingly come into play.

“I’m looking forward to the next 10 years,” he said. “Our leadership is going to transition and I’m anxious to see how it comes to fruition.”

Married to wife Cindy since 1988, the couple has a son, Will, an engineering student at Christian Brothers University in Memphis.

In his free time, Tenney, a board member with the Illinois River Watershed Partnership, enjoys taking his camper trailer to places like the Florida panhandle, relaxing at the family cabin on Greers Ferry Lake in Cleburne County, and recreating a bit closer to home.

“I feel like my soul is attached to the Buffalo River,” he said, referring to kayak and canoe trips down the scenic waterway.