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SpiritWood Corporation |
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Report # 30 |
20 / 10 / 2010 |
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Dear Investors, Firstly, please allow me a few lines of reflection as to our journey over these past 14 years. I have just returned from my 55th visit to the Philippines, since we started planting our trees some 13 years ago. I know there has been a LOT of changes and transitions, in all of our lives and families since then. Butch, our workers, and our investors have seen the untimely deaths of some of their relatives, and we have had new additions to our families to help replace our sorrow with joy. The date of this report has some personal significance as it is not only a special one-off number, but also the day before my father passed away at the age of 95! My dad was actually playing crossword puzzles 7 hours before he passed away. He meant the world to me, and I can’t begin to tell you how much I miss talking and laughing with him… Since 1996, my wife and I left Oman, and have lived in several countries whilst I have continued working in the oil industry in some 12 different countries since then. Like you all, we have been preparing for our eventual retirement with varying degrees of success. Our finances were going in the right direction until our best laid plans were interrupted by the global financial crisis, which we are ALL too well aware of now. As you may also know, we started a second company (Marcher Wood Industries) with the intent to build our up marketing abilities using trees from local small farmers, to produce chairs, school desks, charcoal, etc. Each time we tried to get ourselves established, we were challenged by poor external partnerships, non-payment, unreliable joint ventures, broken agreements, etc, so Butch and I decided it was best to move our focus back to protecting the investors money, and our tree farms. In fact, as the pictures describe, Butch and our workers have been doing just that. As would be expected, investment interest has been high in the early years, but has dwindled as everyone wants to know when this will start to bear fruit, and how much?? I have met and exceeded my pledge by personally paying the annual maintenance and miscellaneous costs over the past 5 years, and I will continue this pledge… Butch and I are as committed as ever to seeing this project through!! We have NOT given up… and we are NOT quitting!! It may not be exactly what we hoped for, or planned for, and life is full of upsets and changes, but we are working for ALL of you to adapt and adopt to them. I left Tanzania, and flew to Dubai, and on to Manila to meet up with Dave Smith and Ken Brown. They have joined me on many earlier trips, so it was great to see them and refresh our enthusiasm regarding Spiritwood. As before, we flew up to Tugugarao and were met by Butch. There was a large amount of road repair going on so we bypassed SM100, and did not see it until the end of our 5 day trip. SM100 was our first year planting and has not progressed nearly as well, as due to soil and weather/rain conditions. As stated in earlier reports, these trees will be several years behind our other crops for harvesting.
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The 2nd year and onwards crops are doing VERY well indeed. It’s been over 3 years since we all had a chance to see the trees together, and everyone saw the big changes in our farms. |
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Butch has been approached by several large corporations, like San Miguel, to provide shipping and packaging materials such as green cut lumber and pallets. We all agreed it was time to try and establish ourselves again, BUT… in a reserved way with price and delivery details of a more controlled manner for Marcher.
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We have re-started the mini-sawmill operations and will begin to supply fresh cut and kiln dried pallets in the New Year. We have taken on a new set of personal loans to secure the equipment and supplies to get this venture off the ground, with the caveat that we will NOT cut any Spiritwood investor trees until they are mature and hard enough. This means we will NOT risk or experiment with your trees, until we see a secure way forward. We expect the Spiritwood trees to start to be ready in 3 years, so we will have a developed business plan by the time our trees are ready for the first select cut. We are deliberately being conservative to ensure that we deliver on our plans, and that you and your families will see the fruition of the trust and money that you have invested with Butch and I. Thank you ALL again for your kind support and confidence, and ALL the very best to you and your families throughout the festive season. Ken Eicher Finance Director |
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