5 questions for John Coors, chairman and president of CoorsTek

Gargi Chakrabarty, Rocky Mountain News

Saturday, January 20, 2007

John Coors is the chairman and president of CoorsTek in Golden, but his passion lies in Kenya.

The Christian evangelical charity he founded in 2002 has helped more than 8,000 households in rural eastern Kenya light their homes with batteries and cook on propane stoves instead of wood burners. A brother of Peter Coors (who ran for the U.S. Senate two years ago), Coors divides his time running CoorsTek, which employs 2,700, and serving on the board of Community Uplift Ministries, whose outreach - Circle of Light - has spent more than $3 million helping needy Kenyans.

He spoke with Rocky Mountain News reporter Gargi Chakrabarty recently.

1. CoorsTek makes technical ceramics used in fuel cell, semi-conductor, oil and gas drilling, electronic, and automotive industries. Do you intend to keep it private?

We have about 2,700 employees and 15 manufacturing plants, including four in Golden, one in Grand Junction. We also have plants in the United Kingdom and Korea. It is a profitable company, and we expect to grow this year. We supply ceramic compounds to high-temperature fuel cells and expect to play a significant role if that industry is developed. We took CoorsTek private a few years ago. The cost of a public company is relatively high, and we didn't think the benefits of a public company outweigh the cost.

2. How did you start Circle of Light? And why Kenya?

It began on a airplane flight in 2001, when I was flying to Nairobi from Europe to learn more about Kenya.

We have four biological children and five adopted. One of our adopted children has East African heritage, and I wanted to learn more about that part of the world. It was a nighttime flight, and I was sleeping as we flew over the coast of Italy, across the Mediterranean Sea to sub-Saharan Africa. I woke up and looked out of the window, and there was no light anywhere, although I knew millions of people lived there. As I was thinking about how you see lights everywhere in the U.S. when you fly at night, I felt like God had asked me a question: if I was willing to help.

Approximately 800 million people live south of the Sahara; three-fourths cook on wood stoves and have no access to electricity. I began trying to figure out how to bring a source of modern energy to that rural part of Africa.

3. A year later, you founded Communities Uplift Ministries in 2002 and its outreach, Circle of Light. How does the program work?

For fuel, we decided on propane instead of solar because it would be hard to cook and refrigerate using solar. Besides, we needed to establish a co-operative structure. What we do, like a rural electric co-ops, is set up member-owned co-ops. Villagers pay an upfront fee of $50, and we match that with $250. That provides members with lighting kits (12-volt batteries to run compact fluorescent bulbs or radios) and cooking kits (two-burner stove that runs on propane). Each community has an energy center with a generator that members use to recharge batteries.

4. Community Uplift Ministries, on its Web site, describes itself as an evangelical Christian nonprofit. Does that mean it helps only Christians?

We are a Christian organization. When we go to communities, we talk about what we do because God's calling us to do it and try very hard to strengthen local churches.

The villages are largely Christian, although we are not exclusive. We require the co-ops to serve anyone who pays, be it Muslim members or members of local African religions.

5. What is your vision for Circle of Light?

I have a dream for Circle of Light to impact 100 million people in Africa. Right now, we are approaching 100,000 people, and we have a long way to go.