Simonpietri Enterprises LLC, a veteran- and woman-owned small business, provides technical and business consulting services to Hawaii companies in the transportation, fuels, waste management and defense sectors.
At the helm of the Kailua-based company is Joelle Simonpietri, a former U.S. Navy officer who entered the private sector because she “prefers to be building stuff.”
“I did three tours – I enjoyed the work, but my plan was always to do something in sustainability and innovation,” she said in an interview with Pacific Business News.
She previously worked as a counter insurgency analyst for the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, helping lead its Green Initiative for Fuels Transition Pacific program with the U.S. Navy’s director of operational energy.
Simonpietri founded her consulting firm focused on renewable energy projects and developing waste-to-energy strategies in Hawaii 17 years ago, although she put it on pause from 2009 to 2016 to pursue other things, family being one.
“My husband bought me the domain name for my [business] on my birthday,” Simonpietri recalled. Her husband, Steve Brennan, is also a consultant with the company, handling information technology and communications for defense contractors.
Most recently, Simonpietri Enterprises was awarded $1.6 million by the U.S. Department of Energy for a project with the University of North Dakota focused on generating hydrogen fuel out of construction and demolition waste.
At the time of interview, Simonpietri said the company is still waiting for the contract to go through. “It’s good because this is money we don’t have to raise from a venture capital; however, a couple million more is still likely needed for the project for other costs not covered, like engineering design.”
Earlier this year, Simonpietri Enterprises won a separate, $650,000 competitive innovation award from the U.S. Department of Agriculture for its “Aloha Carbon” technology, designed to make renewable jet fuel more cost-competitive with petroleum.
What are you currently working on that you’re most excited about? Research on if Honolulu’s invasive species can be used as feedstock for sustainable aviation fuel. Our small business innovation grant of $206,500 has allowed us to work with the University of Hawaii’s Lyon Arboretum and nonprofit Papahana Kuaola since Aug. 1. Now we’re about halfway through that project.
What’s been your biggest challenge as a business owner this year? Cobbling together federal grants to do what we’re trying to do – build something that can reliably receive waste and convert it to fuel. Such projects include diverging truckloads of trash from Farrington Highway, clearing out Waianae and Nanakuli communities.
It’s hard to raise capital for project development and attract investors, but business investors have been helpful for us, as have our community partners. It takes an ohana to do renewable fuel and energy on islands in the middle of the Pacific. Short-term price changes are just a distraction on our plant projections to be completed in 20 to 30 years. But the rise in interest rates is a significant problem, now we might have to rethink our estimates and raise equity.
How has Hawaii’s energy and tech startup scene changed since you first got started? Inertia is always a challenge. Elemental Excelerator and Mana Up do a good job of getting the word out about their local companies. But I think on a larger scale, we must become comfortable with who we are and get rid of the bias that the Mainland is ‘better.’ We [have] talented people and we can work on innovative projects together.
What advice would you give to other small business owners? Every entrepreneur has their own ecosystem; we could all use a little bit of help. A principle I hold to be true in leadership is never send somebody to do a job you wouldn’t do yourself. I see my role as coaching, teaching and rolling my sleeves up.
Simonpietri Enterprises LLC
Joelle Simonpietri, owner
Phone: 808-341-7984
Website: simonpietri.com
