OfficeMax names Kenning to executive post

NAPERVILLE — OfficeMax Inc. has appointed John Kenning executive vice president and president of the Contract business, effective April 2.

Kenning will report directly to Ravi Saligram, president and CEO of OfficeMax.

“John’s extensive knowledge of managing business-to-business enterprises will add significant value to OfficeMax. We are eager to leverage John’s general management skills and his proven track record of leading sales teams to drive profitable growth as we focus on building momentum in our Contract business,” said Saligram.

Kenning has more than 25 years of experience leading sales, marketing and operations teams at large enterprise companies. Most recently, he was president, North America Commercial for ADT Security Services where he was responsible for the complete North American P&L including $2 billion in revenue and 10,000 employees. In that role, he had direct responsibility for all aspects of the business, including sales, applications, operations, IT, HR, legal and North American monitoring facilities. Prior to that, Kenning was senior vice president, global strategic sales and global partners for Nortel Networks Inc., where he championed Nortel’s transition from a product-focused company to a solutions company. Kenning holds a bachelor of science degree in business from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. He was past board member of Make-A-Wish Foundation.

“The OfficeMax Contract team is on an exciting trajectory with the addition of a targeted small and medium business sales force,” said Kenning. “It is a great time to join the OfficeMax team and I look forward to enhancing the value proposition for our enterprise customers and driving profitable, sustainable growth in the business.”