Fuku-Bonsai co-founders David and Myrtle
Fukumoto in a 2012 photo as they celebrated their fiftieth
wedding and bonsai anniversary. At left is their original
Schefflera (Brassaia actinophylla) that was begun in the
newly-weds apartment. On right are several small Dwarf Schefflera (Schefflera arboricola), Fuku-Bonsai's
replacement
specialty. Against all odds, we are recovering, will
be restructuring and refinancing, and evolving into a
"semi-non-profit benefit corporation!"
Kurtistown, Hawaii. October 2022:
NOTICE: CONTRARY TO REPORTS
ON GOOGLE AND YELP, FUKU-BONSAI IS OPEN BY PRIOR EMAIL
APPOINTMENT. WE ARE SHORT-HANDED BUT HAVE NOT CLOSED. IF YOU
PLAN TO VISIT, PLEASE EMAIL FIRST TO
david.f@fukubonsai.com.
Fuku-Bonsai
has begun to REFINANCE & RESTRUCTURE to evolve into
a "SEMI-NON-PROFIT COMMUNITY BENEFIT CORPORATION"
to benefit bonsai, staff, managers, stockholders,
associates, and the Big Island community, visitor industry, and
economy! YOU'RE INVITED TO
JOIN US!
Fuku-Bonsai has roots in a Fukumoto family hobby that became
a passion in 1962, the first Hawaii certified export nursery
in 1973, and a corporation since 1985 to be the catalyst to
own and operate both the 12-acre Kurtistown nursery and
17-acre Kona Fuku-Bonsai Center. The Fukumotos were
joined by over 200 mostly modest bonsai and Big Island
stockholders. That same year we also formed the 501(3)(c)
Mid-Pacific Bonsai Foundation (MPBF) to allow non-profit
bonsai educational activities. The Kona center opened in 1992 but was doomed
as defective DuPont Benlate sprayed in 1989
directly or indirectly caused over $50 million of losses!
Long story short, we lost the Kona Center, retreated
to the Kurtistown nursery, and co-sponsored by MPBF, opened
a second modest Fuku-Bonsai Cultural Center. Benlate
contamination residue prevented growing our original Brassia
profitable crop and required us to develop all new crops and
reinvent the corporation. We switched to Dwarf
Schefflera and committed to teaching bonsai. In 1999,
www.fukubonsai.com
went online. In 2000, we introduced an Introductory Workshop
Package (IWP) of nine components featuring a prepared bonsai
stock.
In 2007, the Premium Introductory Workshop Package (PIWP)
became more popular as a more developed semi-trained plant
and larger components produced a nice bonsai to start a TRUE
INDOOR BONSAI™ hobby. We also settled the Benlate
litigation. The net total proceeds of the 1994 Benlate
product liability and the 2007 DuPont fraud after taxes and
legal costs were just 3% of our direct and indirect losses!
Life is not fair but we survived while many of the original
5,000+ Benlate plaintiffs are no longer in business.
Fast forward to October 2022 as the Fukumoto celebrate 60
years of marriage and a bonsai lifestyle. IT'S TIME
TO TURN OVER FUKU-BONSAI LEADERSHIP!
• We are creating a "SEMI-NON-PROFIT
COMMUNITY BENEFIT CORPORATION" to benefit bonsai, staff,
managers, associates, stockholders, and the Big Island's
visitor and agricultural industries and economy.
• We are creating a PUBLIC-PRIVATE TASK
FORCE to guide the transition and to include all
stakeholders. To participate, email
david.f@fukubonsai.com,
provide contact and interest information, and request
detailed information of our plans. The task
force will include both community leaders as well as those
strongly interested in TRUE INDOOR BONSAI™. It will include
large and modest impact-investors but it is not necessary to
be an investor to participate in the task force activities.
We will be sending our invitations to individuals and
organizations to join us.
• The Fukumotos are donating 30% of their
shares to Mid-Pacific Bonsai Foundation to make them the
largest Fuku-Bonsai stockholder. This will give the
Fuku-Bonsai and MPBF leaders the financial and legal clout
to create the ideal bonsai corporation. No other
bonsai organization has been formed in this manner.
Fuku-Bonsai and MPBF will have the mission and resources to
create, educate, and support a TRUE INDOOR BONSAI™ community
for future generations!
• We invite 200 new large and modest
($2,500 minimum) stockholders to be part of this "FIRST
REFINANCING PHASE." The goal is to raise $500,000 to
bring all accounts current, to remove all property liens, to
rebuild staff and facilities, and to increase production and
move back into profitability. During this first phase,
we will re-establish all business accounting and legal
resources to assure compliance with all Hawaii closed
corporation governmental regulations. We reserve the right
to give investors committed to Hawaii and our value priority
to assure staying a Hawaii corporation. Becoming a
"semi-non-profit community benefit corporation" is possible
because of the original Articles of Incorporation.
• We recommend that the Articles of
Incorporation be further amended to create the ideal
"SEMI-NO-PROFIT COMMUNITY BENEFIT CORPORATION" to
include an employee stock ownership plan (ESOP), to
establish guidelines to prevent immoral excessive corporate
management compensation, to create the highest standards of
management integrity and support for the TRUE INDOOR BONSAI™
community, and the sharing of profitability with the
staff, management, stockholders, and the community. Just as
Fuku-Bonsai was a leader authorizing "non-profit" activities
when it incorporated in 1985, we will document and
move toward creating the ideal "SEMI-NO-PROFIT COMMUNITY
BENEFIT CORPORATION" as our legacy for the future.
____________________________________________________________
Dwarf Schefflera was
first introduced about 1975 and several of our oldest
specimen bonsai including the Entry Tree were trained from
the original introductory cuttings so are likely the oldest
Dwarf Schefflera bonsai that are now approaching 50 years in
training. The photo above was taken over 10 years ago
and a few of our "Custom Collection-In Training" will be
approaching this standard and have never been offered for
sale. Most will be retained to be a part of the
exhibit collection, but we are increasingly offering larger
or older Custom Collection for those who have the skill and
means to acquire older premium high-potental plants.
THERE ARE ADDITIONAL NEW DIRECTIONS
IN PROGRESS:
• Up to now, Fuku-Bonsai focused on
producing the highest value products to be given as gifts or
for continued development as TRUE INDOOR BONSAI™.
Although it is not viable to sell low-cost untrained
seedlings or cuttings, we included information about how to
begin training very early to produce high-potential bonsai
stock. This is the most difficult part of creating bonsai
and beginners have difficulty at the time they have the
least knowledge or skills. To offer best value, we
produce "model items" that are sold efficiently at the same
price and customers have become comfortable in ordering
based upon model descriptions and standards. The standards
have steadily increased.
• Our HAWAIIAN LAVA PLANTINGS are offered
in four sizes and while the "small size" now has a slightly
smaller rock, the standards for desk, medium, and
large have pretty much stayed the same since the early
1970's. But there has been steady upgrading of our
PREMIUM POTTED BONSAI.
• "Small size" was 3-5 years in training,
but often older more developed plants in that size range are
sent. "Medium and Large Premium Potted Bonsai" are
increasingly older and more developed and this is reflected
in higher unit prices. We completed switching to Dwarf
Schefflera in 2000 and most of those sold as "Custom
Collection" are mostly over 20 years in training. But they
include some from about 1975 when Dwarf Schefflera was first
introduced.
• Since the start of publishing our free
monthly email newsletter, I have invited customers to submit
photo articles to be published on our website. A
number have become increasingly skilled and I've learning
from their innovations too! I am very proud of our
growing TRUE INDOOR BONSAI™ community and want to see it
continue to grow so that sharing of information will
continue into the future. The opportunity to create
optimum bonsai is largely limited to those who can acquire
high-potential bonsai plants. I want to see more
plants becoming available in the future and that the Fuku-Bonsai
website will become the best source of information and
assistance. This is important to build the future for True
Indoor Bonsai and American Bonsai.
• Increasing the availability of
high-potential CUSTOM COLLECTION. Their is a truism
that to create masterpiece bonsai, your success is largely
determined by your ability to either create or acquire
masterpiece potential plants. We produce the highest
quality Dwarf Schefflera that was introduced about 1975 and
those at Fuku-Bonsai are amongst the oldest trained as
bonsai. We will be making an increasing number of the
highest potential for those who have a proven history of
success who can afford the premium prices, but who are
willing and able to photograph and provide reports to be
published in future FBnews email newsletters to share
information and continue research and education as we build
a TRUE INDOOR BONSAI community.
• It is important to recognize that TRUE
INDOOR BONSAI is very different from traditional temperate
climate outdoor bonsai that look best in darker colored pots
that make a tree stand out outdoors. But when those
pots are used indoors, they distract. True Indoor
Bonsai are best in low round lighter colored pots.
Because they must be turned for even growth in the
directional light near windows, round pots are prefered and
ligher colored pots don't detract. Creating a better
choice of True Indoor Bonsai pots requires a larger volume
of scale and Fuku-Bonsai will one day grow enough to be able
to make a better choice of pots available.
If you are interested in
participating in the Refinancing & Restructuring
Public-Private Task Force, becoming a "career
leadership management trainee," associate, or investor, please email me for more information.
With warm regards and aloha, ~~~David (david.f@fukubonsai.com)
