Andy Matsui was born in Nara, Japan in 1935, a city situated close to Kyoto. He was raised a farmer, and came to the United States in 1961, on a Farm Burean agricultural training program. He worked at Bear State Nursery growing chrysanthemums and earning a minimum wage of 85 cents an hour. After finishing his training in 1962, he returned to Japan, but after only a few months, he decided that the U.S. was the best place to fulfill his goals, and he went back again to work for Bear State. In 1966 he acquired his green card and in 1967, once he had been able to save a little big of money, he began to lease one acre of land in Palo Alto to start up his own business. After just three years of long hours and hard work, Andy had enough money in his pocket to purchase 50 acres of land in Salinas, and started his mum growing operation there.

At this time, he alse came up with his most notable invention. Due to the fact that chrysanthemums break easily during shipping, andy wanted to find a system that would prevent breakage. Prior to 1970, everyone had used full boxes to ship. Andy developed the idea of creating two half-boxes and tying them together to make a full box. Then, once the boxes had been delivered, they could be easily separated and distributed. He started shipping these boxes directly from Salinas to Kennecott in Chicago, and it was not long after that every company had a similar system.

Also at this time, Andy began his roll as a teacher. The man who lent him some of the money to purchase his land asked Andy if he could teach him about his growing techniques, and Andy agreed, meeting with the man for two hours a week. People have continuallu gone to Andy seeking advice, and he has always been willing to give it.

Within the ten year span from 1970 to 1980, Andy had captured about 15% of the cut-mum market in the United States. Even with this accomplishment under his belt, Andy was already thinking ahead. By 1978, his company had begun rose production, and by 1984, as the interest in chrysanthemums as funeral gifts began to wane, Andy's nursery had converted to growing 100% roses. This proved to be a very profitable change, but andy continued to anticipatethe future, trying out many different floral crops to find out which had a future in the market, including preserved flowers.

By 1998, Andy again made a huge shift in production. Finding that the market for roses had peaked, he began the shift to potted orchids, which is what he currently sells, and Andy asserts that his company is now the largest orchid grower in the world. That is a pretty astounding achievement considering he has been doing it for five years!

Currently, Matsui Nursery spans over 570 acres and 2,730,000 square feet of greenhouses, staffs 160 employees and has an inventory of 8 and ½  million orchid plants. Andy had the foresight to stay one step ahead of the game, always adapting to meet to demands of his customer base. He has a global view of the economy and trends in the flower business, often traveling to different countries to discover what's next for the industry. He was a pioneer in developing the standing order basis of flower sales as a grower and he was one ofthe first to ship direct to national wholesalers instead of going through local wholesalers and rather than selling on a consignment basis, he sold his mums at an outright price. Andy says, "You've got to anticipate change, but you have to be willing to make changes even when the market is good.

Part of changing for him was allowing his four children the opportunity to choose their own paths. When his first daughter graduated from Harvard University, he gave his other children an ultimatum. He told them that either they get into Harvard, or they would become flower growers. All four went to Harvard. They have all gone on to successful careers of their own.

Andy Matsui is a man of vision, predicting change, and relying on instinct and determination to make his business thrive. He says that, "Nothing is forever in this world." He has certainly proven that he has the ability to adapt and prosper, literally building his business from the ground up. Now, he and his wife live in a beautiful home in Pebble Beach, and he has his own pilot and plane to take him anywhere he wants to go.

Andy was always a firm believer in businesses cooperation to achieve common goals. He suggested early on that companies do cooperative buying of energy. In 1973 he helped to establish the California Flower Co-op in Salinas. He was on the Board of Directors for the Bay Area Consolidated Shipments association, a forerunner of Norcal. In 1980, when this group merged to from Norcal, Andy remained on the board for four years. Andy also served on the Inc. board for Norcal twice.

He as committed himself to the advancement of the industry and those who know him and have had the opportunity to work with him, feel that they are more successful in the industry because of what he has taught them. Irma Serna, who worked with Andy for 14 years says, "I graduated from the U of M; University of Matsui." He is a remarkable man who has taught much to the community and set and example ofr diligence and the ability to anticipate change in order to remain successful in this challenging business. For his efforts and contribution, we would like to honor his as this year's recipient of the Distinguished Service Award.