Neil Currie to step down in Aug.
By Jonathan Martin
Staff Writer
Farms.com
Neil Currie, the Ontario Federation of Agriculture’s (OFA’s) general manager, will retire on Aug. 30 and Cathy Lennon will take over the reins.
“I’m very excited to have Cathy on the team,” Keith Currie, OFA’s president, told Farms.com. “It’s not always easy being a general manager and Neil (Currie) is leaving some big shoes to fill, but Cathy is hard not to like and has a unique skill set that we’re excited to bring to the organization.”
During the 19 years Neil Currie spent as OFA’s general manager, Lennon worked as a manager of the Ontario Sheep Farmers, Ontario Processing Vegetable Growers, Agricorp and as a senior lender with Farm Credit Canada. She graduated from the University of Waterloo with a political science degree and from the Rural Ontario Institute’s Advanced Agricultural Leadership Program.
Lennon was selected out of a pool of around 150 applicants. Six of the applicants were shortlisted for interviews and, of them, two individuals made it to the final interview round.
“I’ve known Cathy a long time,” he said. “She didn’t tell me she was applying, but I was very happy to see her name thrown in the hat.”
Neil Currie is the longest-serving general manager in OFA’s 83-year history.
“OFA is in a really good place and a lot of that is thanks to Neil,” Keith Currie said. “It’s going to be very hard to say goodbye to someone who has served so well for so long. Having said that, Cathy has a broad grasp of the industry and we’re looking forward to having her come on board in August.”
Lennon’s first day on the job is Aug. 12.