Pacific Biodiesel founders Bob and Kelly King at their Maui sunflower farm. The company began farming the largest liquid biofuel crop project in the state earlier this year.
success as a partner with her spouse in a 22-year old business has been challenging but fulfilling in their burgeoning industry. “Bob and I have always worked harmoniously as a team,” Kelly says. “We each bring a different skill set, and we look at opportunities from all angles and understand the risks. But we’re also very aligned in our values and are not afraid to jump in and attempt new ventures.” “Solving problems is troubleshooting,” Kelly adds. “Bob is a diesel mechanic, and that’s all about identifying a specific problem and fixing it, making something work that didn’t work before, being able to fire up the engine and then move on to the next problem. So, a lot of our troubleshooting, problem-solving spirit comes from Bob. I’m more of the nurturing side, more about the mission and the message. My background as the oldest of four girls has always been about having a sense of responsibility, taking care of my younger siblings and having compassion for those less able.” “I never aspired to be in this type of business, or create renewable energy, or be a farmer,” Kelly says. “I studied art and journalism in school and wanted to grow up and write the great American novel. But so much of my life has been about doing what is needed. Being in charge of my sisters at such an early age, doing what I was expected to do for the family. You don’t get to ask why it has to be done, you 34
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just step in and do it.” In the early years, Kelly recalls, it was difficult. Their power generator company King Diesel was successful, but there were challenges getting Pacific Biodiesel off the ground. “So much of the time it feels like pushing a boulder uphill,” Kelly says. “Our loyal supporters gave us a sense of hope and motivation to stick with it—especially people like Woody Harrelson, who was one of the first to recognize what we were doing and reached out to us to offer his help in our early days when we were struggling. Then Willie and Annie Nelson started using our fuel and eventually became partners in a couple of biodiesel ventures. Those early fans of biodiesel inspired us to keep going.” “The challenges today are in some ways more frustrating because now there’s an actual biodiesel industry and we live in a state that claims to support renewable energy but often leaves us out of the conversation. There is all this information out there, yet many leaders in our own state and county still don’t understand the environmental and economic benefits of biodiesel,” Kelly says. “We are a local company, creating local jobs and making the nation’s highest quality biodiesel, which is making a positive impact on our local economy. And we still don’t get the same respect or recognition as other renewables in the energy industry. Our politicians largely ignore the external cost benefits,
although they are all quick to emphasize the cost of importing oil and exporting our energy dollars.” Now an elected member of the Maui County Council, Kelly uses the skills honed at Pacific Biodiesel and through decades of community involvement to address other big problems, and she holds on to her positive outlook. “I’m optimistic,” Kelly says. “I always have hope. I’ll play Monopoly until I lose that last property. Persistence and determination are almost an obsession for me. I have to follow through to the end because sometimes things do turn around. People come up to Bob and me all the time telling us how we’ve inspired them. We’re not extraordinary people. We’ve done extraordinary things because we believed enough to invest our own time and resources, several times risking everything we had. If you can inspire people, that’s success because it brings hope. Hope is as important as water, food and air. People who don’t have hope give up on life. I’d love to think we’re motivating people to find their passion, to have a mission and to realize that success is not all about money and material things. Contributing to community and inspiring others are accomplishments that can’t be measured with dollar signs, and they are the things that will keep going long after we’re gone.”