Staff Feature - Susan Perry

Staff Feature - Susan Perry

By Christine Davies, Client Services Specialist

Meet MOSA’s longest employee – Susan Perry has been with MOSA since 2000! Susan was working at the food co-op in nearby Gay’s Mills when she learned of the open File Clerk position at MOSA, which was only about a year old at that time. “I’ve been a Back to the Earth dreamer since as long as I can remember,” Susan shares. “I am a longtime advocate of ‘you are what you eat’ and ‘a natural life of living'. Organic is the only safe way to purchase food anymore.”

Susan recalls that MOSA was founded when people in the organic farming community came together and decided they could offer something better than the available organic certification programs at the time. “There were no National Organic Program (NOP) Standards at the time, so we wrote our own standards.” MOSA’s original slogan: “One of its kind with the organic operator in mind.”

The first MOSA office was on Dave Engel’s organic dairy farm, on the second floor of what would later be known as the “yogurt factory building”. The NOP Standards came about right around the same time that MOSA’s board voted to move the office off the farm and into a more conventional office space on Main Street in Viroqua, WI. Gone were the days of organic certifiers needing to determine their own organic standards. Farmers in the organic industry advocated for the USDA to create and enforce standards that would create consistency and build consumer trust in organic labeling. Still, adapting to the new federal-level rules was a hard adjustment at times.

In 2007, MOSA moved to our current building on Jefferson Street, and the team grew quickly into what Susan calls “a team of enthusiastic and knowledgeable misfits: we were all so different from each other, and we were all working in the office together… We were good at seeing needed changes and taking action. Not afraid of bold moves and feedback – giving feedback, taking feedback. And when the NOP changes came, we were ready for those changes. And when COVID hit, we were ready to go remote. We were just always one step ahead because we’ve been really progressive in our management, and it’s allowed us to really flourish.”

Susan has held many titles at MOSA over the years. Susan started as a File Clerk and held those duties for many years, but soon also joined the administrative team and took on the Office Manager role. This was just after the turn of the new millenium, and she learned to type on a computer for the first time. After the MOSA team moved off the farm to the office on Main Street, they realized that a Human Resource Manager was needed – Susan volunteered and took some classes to learn the new role. Her next role at MOSA was the Administrative Team Lead. Susan had never been a team leader before, but as she has demonstrated over the years, she doesn’t shy away from new challenges. Susan thought, “If I can manage my kids, I can certainly manage a MOSA team of two.” Susan led the administrative team for several years, and eventually decided to step back into a remote administrative staff role. Her current title here at MOSA is Administrative Specialist. These days Susan fields many email inquiries received in our main inbox – mosa@mosaorganic.org. “It’s amazing to me that I knew nothing about any of my jobs at MOSA when I started here, and I’m still here 25 years later.” There have certainly been growing pains along the way, but Susan has seen MOSA grow into a well-run and united team. “After 25 years, I am thankful to say I chose to stay.” Susan fills her free time tending plants and prioritizing taking the time to travel and enjoy life with family. Susan’s best piece of advice? “Love is the answer.”

Susan is in the Purple Sweater (Early 2000s)