Photo courtesy of Morgan McKenna Porter
Morgan McKenna Porter, who grew up in a Florida citrus family, remembers having orange fights as a youth with her cousin, Riley.
When she started classes at the University of Florida in 2010, she knew she wanted to major in agriculture. Porter took classes in the UF/IFAS College of Agricultural and Life Sciences and graduated in 2014 with a bachelor’s degree in agricultural education and communication. She then worked as a sales representative for Syngenta.
When Hurricane Irma struck in 2017, exacerbating the woes brought on by HLB, Porter felt a calling to return to the family citrus business. For the past five years, she has worked as the operations manager at McKenna Brothers Inc. in Lake Wales, owned by Marty and Pat McKenna. Porter’s cousin, Riley McKenna, is the vice president of McKenna & Associates Citrus Inc., owned by Marty McKenna.
“While Riley and I hope to play a bigger role in the company one day, we’re not running things yet,” Porter said. “Right now, our focus is on learning from our dads. We both help bring in innovative ideas — some that our dads love and others that serve as great lessons in why we young grasshoppers still have a lot to learn.”
Despite the havoc HLB has wreaked, Porter sees a future in citrus. “I’m just one person, but it’s worth telling our story, as an entire industry, to customers and fellow Florida residents,” Porter said. “I wanted to lean in and go for it, swing for the fences. I want a future for Florida citrus, and I want a future for McKenna Brothers.”
“Riley and I are on parallel paths, working toward a common goal — a successful and economically viable future for Florida citrus,” Porter said. To help further their vision for the Florida citrus industry, Riley McKenna serves as president of the Highlands County Citrus Growers Association and Porter is president of the Citrus Research and Development Foundation.
Porter is a graduate of the Wedgworth Leadership Institute, which develops Florida agricultural leaders, and Riley McKenna will graduate from Wedgworth in July.
“Riley and I are glass-half-full people, as are most of us left in this industry,” Porter concluded. “We bring optimism to most board and committee meetings we attend.”
Source: UF/IFAS
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