Last updated on May 4th, 2023
Tenneille McFarlane-Smart has been named director of the newly created Project Management Office at Big Y. She will be responsible for all project activity across all divisions at Big Y, including all banners such as Big Y Supermarkets, Big Y Express Gas and Convenience, Big Y at Fresh Acres and Table and Vine fine wines and spirits.
McFarlane-Smart will serve as a liaison between Information Resources Technology and all business units to track strategic projects centrally for visibility, prioritization,and resource allocation. In addition, she will provide guidance and support for these initiatives toward timely and successful strategic project delivery.
She reports to Michael P. D’Amour, chief operating officer.
McFarlane-Smart’s work experience expands across many different industries. In 2005, she served as associate project manager supporting new business development for J. Walter Thompson, international advertising agency in New York City. Two years later, she moved to Voya Financial in Connecticut, where she held several roles, starting as a business analyst lead for Retirement Services IT, then to a continuous improvement change agent by 2013 and finally, she became project manager for Retirement Services IT.
In 2019, she joined Envision Pharma Group as a senior IT project manager before becoming chief of staff in the office of the CEO from 2021 until now.
“On behalf of all of us, we are thrilled to welcome Tenneille to our Big Y family. Tenneille’s leadership will be essential to strengthening the governance surrounding our overall project management process and execution. We are confident in her abilities to launch and develop the Project Management Office as a strategic initiative to better serve our customers, our employees and our communities,” D’Amour said.
She holds a bachelor’s degree from Pace University, an MBA from Bay Path University and a juris doctor degree from Western New England University School of Law. She is licensed to practice law in Connecticut.
McFarlane-Smart is a Certified Project Management Professional, a credential from the internationally recognized Project Management Institute. She serves on the executive board of directors of the Pathlight Foundation, a non-profit that supports individuals with developmental disabilities. She also volunteers for the Connecticut Bar Association’s Pro Bono Legal Advice Clinic.
A resident of Windsor, Connecticut, she has two children.
“I am honored to be joining Big Y and working with an exceptional team to develop the PMO function and support the timely and successful delivery of Big Y’s portfolio of projects,” she said.
Springfield, Massachusetts-based Big Y Foods Inc. is one of the largest independently owned supermarket chains in New England. Big Y operates locations throughout Massachusetts and Connecticut with more than 10,000 employees. Big Y has been recognized by Forbes as a Best-in-State Employer in Massachusetts and Connecticut, as well as 2018 Employer of Choice by the Employers Association of the Northeast.
Founded in 1936 by brothers Paul and Gerald D’Amour, the store was named after an intersection in Chicopee, Massachusetts, where two roads converge to form a “Y.”
