Contractor
Profile
Lenn Chandler Enterprises, Bentonville, AK
Owner: Lenn Chandler
Many roofing contractors are "lifers." That is, they
get into the business when young, learn the trade,
and then start their own company. Over the course
of their career they may be involved in one or more
new roofing companies, but generally follow a linear
path within the industry.
Not so with Lenn Chandler. Over the last almost
40 years he has worked in IT, roofing, then IT again,
back to roofing, sales consulting for other roofing
companies. Then "kind of retired for a year." Now,
he is back to roofing, starting a new company.
Throughout this less than typical career path are
three consistencies: Lenn's commitment to his
family, his faith, and the business relationships he
has forged with co-workers and clients.
Growing up in Bentonville, AK, Lenn attended
Southern Nazarene University in Oklahoma City,
studying Information Technology. While still a
student he began working part time for a roofing
company. This led to forming his first roofing
company, Alderman-Chandler Enterprises, with
another student. By the time Lenn graduated this
company had 27 employees.
At that time, the normal career move for an IT
graduate was to go to work for Western Electric.
Given how profitable the roofing business had
become, there was no way he could afford to take
a job in the IT field. He bought out his partner and
ran the roofing company for the next ten years, until
1989.
With his family growing, Lenn decided to move "back
home" to Bentonville. There he quickly established
a small roofing company, Chandler Enterprises,
running the business as well as working many of the
jobs alongside his crew.
At the ripe old age of 38, Lenn hung up his hammer
and "retired" from the roofing business. He went
back to his educational roots, taking a Network
Administration job with Member Services, Inc. This
is a WalMart subsidiary company, where stayed for
the next eight years.
At that time, one of his close friends was the General
Manager at the local ABC Roofing Supplier. He
wanted to buy a small local roofing company and
asked Lenn to join him. Lenn became the sales and
operations manager, while his friend oversaw the
logistics and supply side of the business. They built
Foster Roofing to a $10 million enterprise.
One of the market niches they pursued was specialty
Today’s Roofer / June 2015
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