For Joseph James ’69, the Purpose Prize is aptly named. The $100,000 national prize given last December honored his ongoing work in South Carolina but also reflects the driving purpose behind his career.
Dating back to his days as a one-time chemistry student at Union and continuing through his 35-year career in economic development, James has been inspired by the Rev. Martin Luther King’s vision of equal rights and economic advancement for African Americans.
James talked about King’s legacy in a 1996 Union College magazine profile. And he cites it again in a three-minute video made by Civic Ventures, a San Francisco think tank that gives out the Purpose Prize.
“I guess it was in my junior year [that]Martin Luther King was killed, at a time when he was working on the economics of being a free person,” James recalled. “It became very clear to me that, although I loved science, I didn’t want to spend my life in a lab. I wanted to be involved with the community, particularly on the economic side.”
The prize is given each year to five Americans over 60 who are working to solve society’s biggest challenges. James was honored for his economic development initiative, “The Greening of Black America—A Rural Development Opportunity,” which is focused on North Carolina and South Carolina.
In 2002 James left his work in economic development in suburban Washington, D.C. and moved to Columbia, S.C. to take a job with the state’s Commerce Department. By 2004, James saw that by shedding the hindrances of state bureaucracy he could have a broader impact on the African American farming community. He left his job, formed the Corporation for Economic Opportunity, and has since helped lead efforts like the South Carolina Biomass Council that encourage farmers to produce oil seed crops like sunflower, sesame and canola seeds to produce “green” products like biodiesel fuel.
“Rural communities now have assets, like farmland and forests, that are going to be in much higher demand. As we all rush toward that resource, the challenge becomes that we make sure that we do it in such a way that we are lifting everyone up instead of trying to get around them,” James said.
The “Greening of Black America” project aims to connect black farmers directly with urban consumers via efforts like food markets and to boost income by helping farmers crow crops to sell in the bioenergy market.
Beyond his nonprofit work, James has launched a for-profit company called Agri-Tech Producers. The company has recently secured an exclusive license to manufacture a machine, designed at North Carolina State University, that can convert biomass like wood chips into a more energy dense, dry and more valuable fuel or feedstock. This mobile torrefaction machine could reduce transportation costs and help farmers leverage the emerging energy value of their crops. James’ new business venture has rekindled his love for pure science.
“My dream when I began attending Union was to be a scientist. After Dr. King’s death, I devoted myself to economic development, but I have always held a high regard for science and wanted to get back into it. It’s great now to be able to do both,” he said.
For more: Click here to read a 1996 Union College magazine profile of Joseph James '69.