Mr. Shimoda: BioScience Securities is a boutique brokerage, institutional research, and investment banking firm that was started in early 1994 with a singular focus, the embryonic but developing 'agricultural biotechnology wave.' The firm was started before ag- biotech became fashionable on Wall Street. Big Wall Street and institutional investors didn't really focus on ag-biotech, in a broad way, until 1996. BioScience Securities was founded on a simple view of the world. That is, it is rare, from a business and Wall Street perspective, to have the opportunity to get in on the ground floor of the development of a technology that will redefine a major segment of the economy, from the standpoint of growth and value. While the decision to start BioScience Securities boiled down to a simple judgment, starting a company with such a narrow focus wasn't really a simple decision at the time. But at the end of the day, the decision was simple because the firm was started based on a strategic view of the world. Although I am a refugee from the New York City area, location has given me perspective. We're located in high tech country, just a little bit northeast of Silicon Valley in the San Francisco Bay area. Silicon Valley technologies and biotech have driven the growth of the San Francisco Bay area. Given the growth of these technologies, people clearly understand the growth and value that technology can create. Although ag-biotech is in its early stages of development, I strongly believe the dimensions of growth and value creation tied to this developing technology base will be one of the largest business and Wall Street stories of the next 25 years. This technology is a baby, in its infancy. With any new technology there will be bumps on the road. There are going to be ups and downs. However, this is a technology that will not only redefine the growth and value creation of agriculture, but will also change the dynamics of a broad number of businesses over the next 25-50 years. We are looking at a technology that will create nothing short of revolutionary change across a broad base of the economy.
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