More recently, they have been helping lead a new industry in their community using waste vegetable oil from local restaurants and oil pressed from camelina, a crop farmers are beginning to grow locally. This cooperative effort involves a partnership between a community college, a university, the local government, farmers and restaurants, and a Community Development Financial Institution, or CDFI, among others.
11 While still in the early stages, it has led to the creation of several new businesses and imbued the town with a new sense of what is possible. Entrepreneurs such as the Hornbecks and Dr. Williams need support to succeed, the kind of support HBCUs and other institutions of higher education have long provided.