At the EA Networks AGM last week he stepped down, with Andrew Barlass appointed as the new chairman.
McKendry said with a new chief executive in Roger Sutton and a lot of talented and capable people at the table he knew it was time to walk away.
“The company was in a really good place and I could walk away knowing things were going well and it has a very exciting future ahead,” McKendry said.
He said there is a resilient network in place and “optimising its operation is the key to the next stage of the company’s life cycle”.
With strong equity levels, the physical hardware in place, and its systems and processes being built up, McKendry said the company is in a strong position.
“The local community can be proud of where the company is at now and we see a lot of opportunity in the future to become really efficient and add a lot of value back to the community”
McKendry will view that progress from the sidelines having retired from the boardroom to fully focus on running the farm in Lyndhurst.
With Barlass as chair, the board is made up of Richard Fitzgerald, Paul Munro, Janine Holland, Anthony Gray, and new appointee Cole Groves.
Barlass is a senior finance industry professional who currently oversees a large dairy farming business in Methven.
He is also a director on Ashburton Contracting Limited – which is 100 per cent owned by the Ashburton District Council, the Ruralco board of directors last year, and is a director on the Christchurch airport board.
The council is the majority shareholder of Electricity Ashburton Limited, which trades as EA Networks, with 28,750,000 of the 30,069,100 shares.

• By Jonathan Leask