John Billington
editI reside in Boise, Idaho with my wife and family. I am the President and CEO of Five Rivers, Inc. I have an avid interest in renewable resources and conservation, working with government entities and the public to create sustainable development and economic growth, and minimize consumption. I started out seeking sources of renewable wood products, as the world currently consumes such resources at 120% of the rate at which they can be renewed. Over the last decade, however, I have become increasingly interested in the miniaturization of fluorescent lighting technology, allowing energy-hungry incandescent fixtures to be replaced with attractive, functional, fluorescent fixtures.
In the mid 90s I was invited to look at an investment for the distribution rights to all or part of 56,000 hectares of plantation grown mahogany on the main island of Viti Levu in Fiji. Introduced by Gene Bambic - a member of the US-Fiji Business Council, I had several meetings in Suva, Fiji with George Speight. At the time under Speight’s control the Fiji government wanted foreign investment without the guarantee of ownership. Speight was later charged with treason and is now serving life imprisonment for the kidnapping and overthrow of then-President Mahendra Chaudhry and his parliament on May 19, 2000. I met President Chaudhry at a convention shortly after his election at the Los Angeles Hilton Hotel to promote business relations between our two countries. I have met with subsequent delegations and Ministers of Labor and Industry and Forestry since then and, after much delay, some Fiji timber products will be in production and ready for the US domestic market by early 2007. Five Rivers, Inc. has been asked to participate in distribution.
Editing Activity
editI do a lot of writing on subjects related to my expertise and cite Wikipedia in these works often. However, I have found some inaccuracies in some entries and would like to suggest some modifications. Currently I am reviewing the following entries for completeness and accuracy and plan on making some suggestions on the talk pages soon, and any comments or discussion regarding any proposed modifications are welcomed:
--Thomas Edison
--Incandescent lighting
--Fluorescent lamp
--Lighting
--Fiji
--George Speight
--Mahendra Chaudry