Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1541367
42 PCB007 MAGAZINE I NOVEMBER 2025 electroplaters. We drove there in our Austin-Healey Sprite. It was February, and cold, and the heater in the Sprite didn't work, but we both went. They were hiring like crazy, and we both got jobs. I was hired as a program coordinator, which was essentially an expediter. My job was to track down parts and monitor the statuses of all the boards in my programs. There were six of us participating, and we had to arrive at 5 a.m. every day to have our status report ready for a full management meeting at 7 a.m. At that meeting, each of us would read out the status of our boards part by part, while the pres- ident of the company would yell and threaten the supervisors for not moving the boards fast enough. We worked about 80 hours a week, with 40 of them at time and a half, which we loved. What I did not appreciate at the time was how fortunate I was to get my start there. Maine Electronics was a division of Rockwell International and the most advanced PCB shop in the world. We built the boards for the Minuteman Missiles, the F-111, and, of course, the Shuttle. We built the first 5-mil lines and spacing boards for a company called Amdahl in 1976, and we were the first to actually work on con- trolled impedance boards. Dan, when you look back on your career, what are you most proud of? First, I am proud of finding my own way. When it came time to move up from my program coordina- tor role, I chose contract analysis, which was the Rockwell term for sales. I did pretty well there, so after three years in that job, I became the young- est national sales manager at any Rockwell division. What are your more personal accomplishments? After being fired from two jobs in four months, I took the hint and started D.B. Management with my friend Don Dawson. I had found my true calling. Previously, I held the positions of national sales and marketing manager and director of sales and mar- keting. I had come to realize that in the PCB indus- try, that position meant you spent 99% of your time on sales and 1% on marketing. You did a brochure every couple of years. What I figured out was that companies actually needed someone to do marketing—strategic mar- keting specifically—so I decided to rent myself out in that position. I also realized that if I wrote a column, I would be considered an "expert," so I approached Mike Buetow of PCB Fab, and he brought me on as a columnist. I also did some writing for the original CircuiTree Magazine where I met Barry Matties, Ray Rasmussen, and Barb Hockaday. Eventually, Barry invited me to write for their new venture, I-Con- nect007, and I joined the team. That was exactly 20 years ago, and the rest is history. D.B. Management is now 30 years old and still going strong. Most of my business comes from my "It's Only Common Sense" column, and I am very grateful to I-Con- nect007 for that.