Paul Neidlein

A distinguished leader, strategic thinker and civic-minded community member, Paul Neidlein has become known throughout his career for a commitment to driving engagement, diversity, inclusion and growth for those who work alongside him. He’s also earned a reputation for providing opportunities for innovation and collaboration among clients and vendors throughout the Kansas City and regional construction market.

Neidlein earned his degree in architectural engineering from KU in 1995 and started his career that same year at Turner Construction in St. Louis, before moving to the Kansas City office in 1997. During his time at Turner Construction, he worked as a field engineer, then in roles overseeing project management and business development and was eventual promoted General Manager of the Kansas City office.

In 2012, he started at JE Dunn Construction, where he continued to grow his career — first as Senior Vice President of Operations before moving into his current role in 2018 as President of the Midwest Region. Currently, Neidlein oversees offices in Kansas City, Wichita, Springfield, Missouri(?) Des Moines, Omaha, Minneapolis and North Dakota, as well as leading four national divisions focused on mission critical, sports, federal and justice projects.

Under Neidlein’s leadership, JE Dunn’s Midwest Region has seen tremendous growth, expanding in all markets, and is expected to surpass $2 billion in revenue in 2022 — its highest ever.

Neidlein has also been responsible for leading the development of JE Dunn’s “Exceptional Client Experience,” a surveying tool that has been adopted throughout all regions of the company and seeks to ensure an exceptional client experience throughout the entire life cycle of a project.

Recently, Neidlein led the start-up of one of the company’s newest initiatives, a prebuild and prefabrication facility located in Kansas City, Missouri, where skilled trades workers fabricate construction assemblies offsite in a factory setting for delivery to job sites in order to improve project safety, quality and scheduling.

Neidlein is also dedicated to diversity and inclusion within JE Dunn and throughout the broader architectural, engineering and construction communities. He continues to lead Dunn’s “Diversity Dialogues,” a series of conversations designed to share perspectives from employees of all backgrounds, as well as inspire greater awareness and understanding throughout the company. Recently, his team also developed a contractor/trade mentoring program that works to connect Disadvantaged Business Enterprise entities with key operations personnel in order to increase opportunities and build relationships.

Neidlein also demonstrated JE Dunn’s commitment to diversity and inclusion by working to ensure an increase in the participation of underrepresented minorities for two major Kansas City-area engineering projects. His leadership helped secure a 52% minority participation in the construction of the recently completed Kansas City Missouri East Patrol and Crime Lab Campus, and a 48% minority participation in the construction of the Kansas City International Airport Terminal Garage, currently underway.

As a civic-minded community member, Neidlein has given back to the University of Kansas by serving on the Civil, Environmental and Architectural Engineering Department advisory board since 2018 and is also active on the KU Medical Center Advancement Board.

In addition to his service to the university, he is also active within the Kansas City community. As a board member for the Ronald McDonald House, he’s played a key role in their recent expansion and their ability to serve families in need. Currently, he sits on the Kansas City Downtown Council Board of Directors, which is focused on advancing the growth of Kansas City among visitors, businesses and conventioneers.

Neidlein has also been actively involved in the National MS Society, the Kansas City Architectural Foundation Board, the Kansas City Area Development Council and the National Institute for Construction Excellence. He’s been recognized by Ingram’s Magazine in its annual “Forty Under 40” issue, and has also been named as one of “The 50 Kansans You Should Know.”

Throughout his 27 years in construction, some of Neidlein’s favorite projects include:

KU’s original Horejsi Family Athletic Center; the renovation and modernization of Allen Fieldhouse; the World War I Museum at Liberty Memorial; the Sporting Kansas City soccer stadium; the Arrowhead Stadium expansion; the Loew’s Hotel at the Kansas City Convention Center; Two Light and Three Light Towers, the Johnson County Courthouse and the restoration of the Air Force Academy Cadet Chapel in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Paul lives in Prairie Village, Kansas, with his wife and fellow KU grad, Tina (B.S., Journalism, ’96; B.A., English, ’96). They have one son, Ty, who is currently a freshman at the University of Arkansas. (They tried.