When Cole Millington (BA ’19) heard that his friend Avery Donovan was headed to Hawaii to live with his uncle and work a summer job, he asked if he could tag along. But what began as an adventure working as a dive guide and surf coach took root as a deep appreciation for Maui and for nature and offered an opportunity to out into motion an entrepreneurial spirit fostered at the University of Denver. Millington settled in Lahaina, a town of more than 12,000 on Maui’s west coast. Even after friends returned to the mainland and throughout the COVID-19 pandemic when unemployment peaked at 80% on the island he stayed. He had found a sense of community there that he didn’t want to leave, which has persisted through the island’s recent tragedy and the resulting hardship. On Aug. 8, Lahaina was the center of a series of chaotic wildfires that left 115 people dead and another 388 missing. More than 2,200 homes and businesses burned to the ground, including the house where Millington live
Cole Millington built his hot sauce business in Lahaina, Hawaii, during the COVID-19 pandemic. He was working to scaling it up before the wildfires in West Maui destroyed everything he had.