Some things never change. Throughout our 50-year history, we’ve remained focused on people. From an employee-centric culture to a client-first mentality, people and the relationships we have with them have always been just as important as our projects. Creating environments where people can thrive has helped us attract the best people, build successful client relationships, and foster a culture that’s second to none. Half a century later, we’re still the same company — just with more people and projects.
HUMBLE BEGINNINGS
Our founder, Fran Henderson was a math genius, skilled engineer, and company culture visionary. He opened Henderson Engineers on March 16, 1970 and operated as the only PE for the first 17 years. He valued one-on-one relationships with people and casual attire (trading in button-downs and ties for jeans and bucket hats), which is still foundational to Henderson today.
It wasn’t long before team Henderson made a name for ourselves as fast and efficient, particularly in grocery and retail design. By doubling down on the importance of technical quality and client service, we earned the attention and business of many brands we still work with today.
BUILDING MOMENTUM
In the 1980s, Henderson expanded its client base and built a reputation for technical excellence and service, adding grocery and retail stores, restaurants, schools, and office buildings. A chance visit from Bentonville executives sparked what became our longest-standing client relationship. In 1989, Walmart tapped us to help launch a new retail-and-grocery concept under one roof and we’ve been innovating in retail ever since.
Near the end of the decade, Fran’s son, Duane Henderson, took over as CEO, leading 25 years of growth alongside CFO Rick Lahm. By Duane’s retirement in 2016, the firm had grown from three people to 640.
Decade of Growth
The 90s introduced acid-washed jeans and fresh faces. New clients like Sprint, Blockbuster, Applebee’s, Sonic Drive-In, and Harps helped the firm grow from five to 100 employees. Tony Pianalto brought a wealth of knowledge that propelled our healthcare expertise. Additional impactful hires were Rich Smith, Dave Haake, Craig Lanham, Vince Masilionis, Shane Lutz, Drew Rimmer, Mike McCluskey, Phil Miller, Dana Kettle, Patrick Mills, Paul Mejia, Darrell Stein, and Julie Pierce.
Other milestones in this decade included a new company logo featuring the “Power H,” and the introduction of three specialty divisions that we still offer today: Impact Illumination, Fire Dynamics, and Collective Tech. Also, our client golf tournament began, an event so legendary it has expanded to four locations around the country.
Team Henderson
Henderson opened a lot of new doors over the next 10 years — literally. We established six of our nationwide offices as we doubled in size, again. We also landed our first venue project, Matthew Knight Arena at the University of Oregon, which has since led to game-changing projects for collegiate and professional sports teams across the country. We also helped repair damage from Hurricane Katrina for clients like Walmart, Office Depot, and the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.
During this period, the firm expanded into Refrigeration Design, launching a dedicated team that quickly delivered results while deepening existing client relationships and attracting new, long-term partners that remain critical to our business today.
EXPANSION & EVOLUTION
By 2010, our iconic projects were coast-to-coast, and so were we, with offices opening in New York, Philadelphia, and Los Angeles. Following 20 years of consecutive growth, Duane Henderson officially retired after 27 years and passed the role of President/CEO onto Rich Smith – a position he held for 8 years. Also, we expanded our family of services by acquiring Acoustical Design Group and CEC, which became Henderson Building Solutions, specializing in commissioning, general contracting, and all the logistics and supply chain needs in between.
We grew to 900+ employees, but our founding principles remained the same. Quality standards became a department. Parking lot beers turned into office happy hours. And, building with Habitat for Humanity transformed into volunteer time off.
A NEW STRUCTURE
Along with Henderson’s 50th anniversary, came the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Through this challenge, we adapted to changing health restrictions and continued our commitment to integrating sustainable, resilient design concepts into our standard business practices.
Rich Smith and COO, Dave Haake, retired, and Kevin Lewis became the new CEO & President of Henderson Companies in 2022. We restructured to align with six key sectors: Business, Community, Grocery & Distribution, Health, Retail, and Venue. We also prioritized talent development, acquisition, and retention and formalized our DE&I initiatives. Perhaps most notably, we became a 100% employee-owned company. As we continue to grow our focus to build a better world remains central. We are built to build the future.
FAST FACTS FOR FIFTY
Projects
Seem like a lot? It is. We work hard.
People
More industry-changing employees every day.
Jeans
We've been casual since before casual Fridays were a thing.
Looking back is only half of the Henderson story as we’re really more focused on what’s coming next. We’re pretty proud of what we’ve accomplished in the past five decades, but we can’t help but think our next 50 years will be the best ones yet. See how we’re keeping focused on what got us here in the first place.
building great partnerships
We’re just as committed to technical excellence and creative solutions today as we were in 1970. See how we’ve helped our clients bring their projects to life.
leading the industry
We love what we do so we’re always trying to stay on top of the latest design trends and best practices. Check out recent insights shared by our experts.
<h2 class=”h1 txt-white”hiring the best people
We wouldn’t be where we are today without hiring some of the smartest (and coolest) people in the industry. Learn what makes Henderson a special place to work.
