Big Y Foods hires Tenneille McFarlane-Smart to head new project management office

Big Y Foods has formed a project management office (PMO) and named Tenneille McFarlane-Smart as director.

In announcing the new office and hire this week, Springfield, Massachusetts-based Big Y said McFarlane-Smart will oversee all project activity across divisions, including all retail banners—Big Y supermarkets, Big Y Express Gas & Convenience, Big Y at Fresh Acres, and Table & Vine wines and spirits.

The newly created role also will have McFarlane-Smart serve as a liaison between information resources technology (IRT) and all business units to monitor strategic projects centrally for visibility, prioritization and resource allocation, Big Y noted. In addition, she will provide guidance and support to ensure projects maintain their timetable, the company said.

“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,” McFarlane-Smart said in a statement.

Tenneille McFarlane Smart, project management office director, Big Y Foods / Photo courtesy of Big Y

McFarlane-Smart comes to Big Y from Envision Pharma Group, which she joined in 2019 as a senior IT project manager and then became chief of staff for the Office of the CEO in 2021. The regional grocer cited her experience across various industries. In 2005, she served as associate project manager supporting new business development for international advertising agency J. Walter Thompson in New York City. Two years later, she moved to Voya Financial in Connecticut, starting as business analyst lead for retirement services IT before promotions to continuous-improvement change agent in 2013 and later to project manager for retirement services IT.

At Big Y, McFarlane-Smart reports to Michael D’Amour, chief operating officer.

“We are thrilled to welcome Tenneille to our Big Y family,” D’Amour stated. “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.”

Overall, Big Y has more than 10,000 employees and operates 89 stores in Massachusetts and Connecticut, including 72 Big Y supermarkets, one Big Y at Fresh Acres grocery store, one Table & Vine Fine Wines & Liquors store and 15 Big Y Express convenience/fuel stores. A new small-store format announced in April 2022 and now in the hiring phase—the 10,000-square-foot Big Y Express Fresh Market, in downtown Springfield—will be the company’s fourth retail banner.