4 minutes with… Bill Smith, VP-Finance & Operations, BioBlend Renewable Resources

Tell us about your company and it’s role in the Advanced Bioeconomy.

BioBlend makes a line of high performance biodegradable lubricants and greases. We focus on the performance attributes that our customers require while maintaining competitive pricing. Being environmentally friendly is the icing on the cake. We market our lubricants through relationships with distributors both in the U.S. and around the world.

Tell us about your role and what you are focused on in the next 12 months.

We’ve expanded our team quite a bit in the past 12 months. As our team gets assimilated, the next 12 months are about ramping up the opportunities that will “move the needle”. As a team we need a blend of short, medium, and long term opportunities in the pipeline. I focus on our corporate finance, mergers & acquisitions, and our international partnerships.

What do you feel are the most important milestones the industry must achieve in the next 5 years?  

For mass adoption, the industry needs to be able to produce biobased or renewable products that perform as well or better than their traditional counterparts and be priced on par with them. At that point, we’ll have reached the tipping point and explosive growth will follow.

If you could snap your fingers and change one thing about the Advanced Bioeconomy, what would you change? 

It takes a long time to change people’s perceptions. People may remember an inferior biobased product they had tried 15-20 years ago, and have resolved to never try another one. The technology being developed now is light years ahead of what was on the market 20 years ago.

Of all the reasons that influenced you to join the Advanced Bioeconomy industry, what single reason stands out for you as still being compelling and important to you?  

When it comes to market size, they don’t come much bigger than the oil business. The opportunity to play a role in changing that industry is very compelling!

Where are you from? 

I grew up in Peoria, IL, headquarters for Caterpillar, Inc.

What was your undergraduate major in college, and where did you attend? Why did you choose that school and that pathway?

I was a Finance major at the University of Iowa. My father was an executive with Cat and he recruited at universities. He took me along on trips and I fell in love with the campus at Iowa. I got the entrepreneurial bug as a teenager, founding my first company “Bill Squared ” Odd Jobs Unlimited”, with my friend Bill Hopkins.

Who do you consider your mentors – could be personal, business, or just people you have read about and admire. What have you learned from them?

Lots of influencers: parents, teachers, pastors, bosses, friends, and other extended family members. A couple interesting anecdotes aside from the usual suspects: I had a summer job working for a landscaping business, planting trees for 50 hours a week. Mr. Neumann, the owner, took me out in the fields to talk to me about business, economics, and life in general. His lesson on Stella De Oro Day Lilies was profound. He could buy each plant for a small amount, then divide that plant into two and let it grow, then divide those two again, and so on. A small investment could turn into a substantial asset given enough time, attention, and patience. A second mentor was my mother’s boss at Remax. Jim Sipp owned many rental properties and did a lot of the work to maintain the homes himself. Mr. Sipp taught me how to use the right tool for the job every time and the value of a smart days work. I once helped him paint the outside of three rental properties in a single day!

What’s the biggest lesson you ever learned during a period of adversity?  

The power of a positive attitude. In 2008 I completely lost the vision in my left eye. I could have sat around and felt sorry for myself about the struggles that were ahead, but I looked at it as a minor inconvenience and figured out ways to adapt. Although I cannot do some things as well as I could before, I don’t let it stop me from doing or trying anything. In life as well as in business, we face challenges every day, how we look at those challenges can make all the difference in the world.

What hobbies do you pursue, away from your work in the industry?

I like to be outdoors and play games with my family, training for triathlons, and cooking.

What are 3 books you’d want to have with you, if you were stranded on a desert island

The Bible ” for inspiration

The Far Side ” for comic relief

How To Survive on a Deserted Island ” to figure out how to get out of there!

What books or articles are on your reading list right now, or you just completed and really enjoyed?  

I’m currently reading “52 Things Kids Need from a Dad” by Jay Payleitner, and that keeps me focused on the most important things. My iPad is always loaded with five magazines: The Economist, Inc, Forbes, Bon Appetit, and Travel & Leisure.

What’s your favorite city or place to visit, for a holiday?

St. Martin in the Caribbean. The island is half Dutch and half French and you can find a new area to explore off the beaten path each day.