Finding the right chemistry in Houston
Third-generation Japanese American grows firm into a top woman- and minority-owned chemical distributor
Donna Fujimoto Cole was 27 and recently divorced with a young daughter when she started Cole Chemical in 1980 with $5,000.
Over the coming decades, Cole grew her company into one of Houston’s leading woman- and minority-owned chemical distributors, supplying gasoline, jet fuel, antifreeze and other chemicals for clients such as Exxon Mobil, Phillips 66, Toyota and Colgate.
Cole, who grew up in the Rio Grande Valley and moved to Houston after college, has been active in the local community. She was one of the founding members of the Asian Chamber of Commerce, a Hall of Fame inductee into the Greater Houston Women’s Chamber of Commerce and a former member of President George H.W. Bush’s Export Council.
As a third-generation Japanese American, Cole also worked to strengthen Houston’s relationship with Japan, the city’s eighth largest trading partner.
She was part of former Mayor Annise Parker’s delegation to Japan and Korea, served as a former president of the JapanAmerica Society of Houston, a former board member of the U.S.-Japan Council and chairwoman for the 2018 Japan-Texas Economic Summit, which brought more than 400 business leaders from Texas and Japan to the Houston conference.
Cole was recently honored by the Japanese government with an Order of the Rising Sun decoration in recognition of her contributions to promote trade and cultural relationships between the U.S. and Japan. She spoke with the Houston Chronicle about the barriers she faced as an Asian American and woman in male-dominated business, the growth of her company and the challenges facing the petrochemical industry. Edited excerpts follow.
Q: What was it like growing up as a Japanese American in South Texas during the 1950s and ’60s?
A: There were very few Asians in the Valley. It was mostly white and Hispanic, a couple of Black families and a smattering of some Japanese families, many who were farmers. We didn’t speak Japanese because after World War II, we were supposed to be American and assimilate. Still, I was bullied when I was in elementary school. I was called names and told to go home, even though this is home. Being Asian American, people don’t think we’re American citizens or that we were born here.
With this face, we always look like foreigners. So, I used to hide underneath the teacher’s desk and wouldn’t go out to play during recess. What I realized later in life, I had to prove myself. Instead of growing up being a mean person trying to do mean things to other people, I asked myself: How am I going to get people to be kind and show people kindness?
Q: How did you get started in the business?
A: Energy was very far from my schooling, which was in computer programming and operations. After my divorce, I moved with my daughter from a small town in the Valley to Houston. I was just pounding the pavement looking for a job to support us when I ran across this company, Goldking Chemical, in the Houston Chronicle, which was touted as one of the fastest growing companies in Houston with a low turnover rate. I thought that’s a company I want to work for. I ended up working for the president and learned the business. I had been working in the industry for several years, so I knew some people from purchasing at Monsanto, DuPont, Shell and Exxon. They encouraged me to start my own business so they could subcontract fuel and chemical distributions from a minority- and woman-owned business.
Q: How has the industry changed over time?
A: At our peak in 2006, we were at around $90 million in sales and we had 49 employees. Since then, the industry has consolidated and we lost some big chunks of business. We ended up selling our warehouse space, our blending and packaging facility and our own office building. We’ve outsourced accounting and legal. You have to make adjustments or you’re not going to survive through all of these changes so that’s what we did. With COVID, we bought and sold isopropyl alcohol and glycerin products that went into making hand sanitizer.
Q: The petrochemical industry is facing more scrutiny over pollution, particularly plastics. How can the industry improve?
A: The chemical industry has such a bad connotation and so we have to do a better job educating people. You wouldn’t have your computer, your cellphone, your mattress, your kitchen equipment, your car without chemicals. We do have to work more responsibly together to address climate change. We need to do a better job of recycling.
Q: You’ve done a lot of work to advance Houston-Japanese trade and cultural relations. Why was this important to you?
A: Back in 2006, I was invited to go to Japan as a Japanese American who had never been to Japan before. On my way back, I was really depressed. In the U.S., I’m not perceived as being a U.S. citizen so when I went to Japan, I thought I’d fit in since I look like everyone else. But I didn’t — they can pick you out as a foreigner from the way you dress, walk and talk. I was wrestling with who I am, when it dawned on me that I could have my foot in both places and help attract Japanese businesses here and help U.S. companies do business in Japan. If I can bridge that gap and help Houstonians and Americans know more about Japan, I’m doing good.
Q: Asians are the fastest growing demographic in Houston and nationally, and we’re seeing more Asian companies investing in Texas. Houston has long had a vibrant Chinatown and a large Vietnamese population, but what does this growth mean for the city?
A: Houston is an anomaly in that it’s so welcoming of people because of the wildcatters. You could come here from nothing, put a hole in the ground, make oil and make money. People didn’t care where you came from, they didn’t care what school you went to or what church you were. For Asians here, the door is wide open. It’s a great opportunity for us to have a bigger voice in government policies and politics. It’s an opportunity to show the community that we can contribute and give back. I’m very positive about how we’re being recognized, but more importantly, with these Asian hate crimes during the pandemic, we have to stand up and intervene and help people.
Q: You’re a female executive in a male-dominated chemical industry. Is that changing as more women graduate with science, technology and engineering degrees?
A: There’s been a lot of good positive change in the chemical industry for women, and especially ethnic minority women. We see more and more women start their own business. Women business owners are also a little more open now to doing business with other women. In the beginning, it was difficult because they saw each other as competition. We’re really learning how to collaborate, which is awesome.
Q: What do you see as the future of the chemical industry as society shifts toward renewable and cleaner forms of energy?
A: It’ll continue, but it’s going to be different. We’re going to have to figure out carbon capture and do things that are maybe on a smaller scale. We’ve built these huge, multibillion-dollar facilities. Maybe there should be fewer of them, but more efficient. There’s still lots of room for mergers and acquisitions, and all of this technology coming out with carbon capture.
Q: What has been your proudest accomplishment?
A: My dad was in the U.S. Army’s 442nd Regimental Combat Team, a segregated Japanese American combat unit that to this day is the most decorated unit and helped liberate the Dachau concentration camp in Nazi Germany. I was able to use my words, my money and my time to help get the Congressional Gold Medal for these American soldiers. We had to get all the congressmen and senators to vote and have the president sign. President Obama awarded the Congressional Gold Medal to the 442nd in November 2011. We donated $75,000 so that every vet who came to Washington, D.C., for the medal ceremony could get a 3-inch replica. We then took the medal on a tour, including the National World War II Museum in New Orleans and the Holocaust Museum in Houston.
“Houston is an anomaly in that it’s so welcoming of people because of the wildcatters. … For Asians here, the door is wide open.” Donna Fujimoto Cole, CEO and president of Cole Chemical