Department Advisory Council

Patrick Cooley

Patrick Cooley was born in Brawley California in 1964. He graduated from Brawley Union High School in 1982 and immediately followed his passion as a very natural and successful young artist. He then changed direction and started his current career accidently in 1985 delivering seed for Keithly-Williams Seeds in the summer between art school semesters and construction jobs. He loved the challenge, so he left school and was hired full time by KWS in 1986. Pat was soon promoted to warehouse manager and in 1987 stepped in as the general manager when the acting manager at the time was seriously injured in an accident. 6 months later he was moved to a product development position and shortly thereafter a sales position. He Moved to Yuma AZ in 1988 and began a very successful sales career and was responsible for establishing KW’s presence in the Yuma and surrounding areas where they have become the world leader in vegetable seed sales ever since. He established and managed the Yuma locations and the successfully growing business. Sales in his territory grew from 200K to over 12mm in 10 years. In 1999 Pat was promoted to global sales manager where he continued as a catalyst for the successful growth of Keithly-Williams managing a young aggressive sales team. In 2004 Pat was promoted to General Manager and has had a huge impact on the company’s success ever since. Today the company is a diversified agribusiness with 4 separate divisions and over 220 employees in numerous locations of North America. Pat is currently co-owner and the acting President who runs the day-to-day operations of these divisions which include Seed, Transplants, equipment fabrication and Ag services such as transplanting and thinning. Annual revenue is in excess of 160 mm. Pat and his wife Kirin reside in Yuma. They have 3 married children Michael (Nasira), Chelsea (Matt) and Elliot (Elizabeth) plus 2 grandsons Mason and Emmett and 3 granddaughters Shaedyn, Ainsley and Isla. They just celebrated their 35th wedding anniversary. Pat is very active in the community and major supporter of Yuma Catholic High School where he spent many years on the board of trustees and three years as its chair. He was awarded the heart of Yuma leadership award in 2017. He is active in Western growers, Yuma fresh vegetable assoc. and with several game and fish and conservation organizations in several states and countries. He is one of a group of dedicated volunteers who are considered the world authority on rainwater catchment systems for desert wildlife.