The National Biodiesel Board presented the Pioneer Award--a special honor to an individual or group who has served the industry--to Kenlon Johannes, the first executive director of the National SoyDiesel Development Board, which later would become the NBB.
"I had an empty file cabinet drawer at the NBB office and was ecstatic when we put the first hanging file folder in it with a biodiesel producer's name on it," said Johannes. "I don't know if I fully envisioned what the industry would become; I was too busy building support for the effort. But, I never wavered from thinking that what we were doing was right, what we were doing would work, and that we would move forward."
Johannes was the executive director of the Missouri Soybean Association before he managed NBB. He continues to promote biodiesel as administrator of Kansas Soybean Commission and CEO of the Kansas Soybean Association.
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