Kenna Eaton

By Randy Paulin, from the August 1999 Newsletter

Of course everybody knows Kenna, right? After all, she's the Manager of the Co-op. She's been involved with the Co-op in one manner or another since 1982. She's taken two maternity leaves of absence, but returned to work at the Co-op each time. And today she's the general manager of a Co-op in a beautiful new location, with over 2000 active members, 50-60 volunteers, and 25-30 paid staffers. All of which makes her a pretty busy person. She said it's been "a while" since she was profiled in this newsletter. I didn't press for a specific date–she's got more important things to worry about. In the much shorter "while" since I've been writing these profiles, I've gotten to know Kenna a little bit myself. She's always been helpful in lining up the next victim, er, interviewee, for the monthly staff profile, and she's always got a friendly greeting for me when I see her in the store.

What I did not know about Kenna until recently is that she's going to become an American citizen this year, after thirty years in the U.S. as an expatriate Briton. And I also just learned that her husband has just started his "dream business" (Prairie Bloom Nursery, out on the Moscow-Pullman Highway), which Kenna's also busy with when she's not at the Co-op. And obviously there are many other things that I still don't know about her. But I am sure that she's got a real handle on the Co-op, not only in terms of the nitty-gritty details, but (more importantly) in terms of what the Co-op means to the community, as well.

When Kenna talks about managing the Co-op, she speaks immediately of the diversity of each day's work. She enjoys the unpredictability of managing, and speaks self-deprecatingly of knowing how to do most of the jobs in the Co-op, but not being very good at all of them. But when she talks about spending a large part of every day helping customers, one really gets a sense of what keeps her coming to work every day: the people (whether members or not) who choose to shop at the Co-op, and who make it what it is. Kenna speaks of the Co-op as being a democratic institution, and she means it. But if that makes her the head of state, (and that's my extension of the analogy, not hers) I, for one, believe the process is working and the Co-op's in good hands. Because Kenna, whether you know her (by sight or otherwise) or not, has the Co-op's customers as her number one priority and she strives to balance the diverse needs and desires of those customers, plus the membership, the volunteers, and staff in order to respect the Co-op's democratic nature, and to make it a great place to shop. For that, she deserves a word of thanks from all of us who value our Moscow Food Co-op.

You can reach Kenna via email.