40 PCB007 MAGAZINE I NOVEMBER 2025
F E AT U R E C O LU M N I ST Q & A by M a rcy La Ro nt , I - C o n n e ct 0 07
Dan Beaulieu: The Man
Behind the Marketing
C o l u m n i st : Dan Beaulieu
C o l u m n : It's Only Common Sense
Ti m e w i t h I - C o n n e ct 0 07: 20 years
Columnist Bio: D a n B e a u l i e u h a s
ove r 3 5 ye a rs of ex p e r i e n c e i n t h e
p r i n te d c i rc u i t b o a rd i n d u st r y. H e i s
c o n s i d e re d o n e of t h e i n d u st r y 's to p m a r ket i n g a n d
s a l e s ex p e r t s , a s we l l a s p e r h a p s t h e st ro n g e st a n d
m o st fo c u s e d st ra te g i st i n t h e i n d u st r y. H i s m a i n
fo c u s i s h e l p i n g t h e c o m p a n i e s h e wo r ks w i t h to
a c h i eve t h e i r f u l l e st p ote n t i a l .
Select columns from It's Only Common Sense:
• Marketing Isn't Fluff, It's Ammunition
• Your Biggest Competitor Is Complacency
• The Phone Is Still Mightier Than the
Keyboard
• If You're Not Differentiated, You're Dead
• Stop Whining About the Market—
Outwork It
• Pricing PCBs? It's All in Their Heads
F
or 20 years, It's Only Common Sense columnist
Dan Beaulieu has inspired readers with practi-
cal business wisdom and contagious energy. We
asked Dan a few questions so you will get to know
the man behind the weekly marketing column.
Dan, where were you born and raised, and do you
have a favorite childhood memory?
I I was born and raised in Auburn, Maine, in a large
French Canadian family. In fact, I didn't really speak
English until I went to school. On my mother's
side, I am the oldest of 38 grandchildren, so I was
spoiled rotten. Looking back, my entire childhood
was pretty good. We were poor, but since everyone
in our neighborhood was poor, we didn't realize it.
One of my favorite memories was when my father
bought a used pinball machine for $15, and my
friends and I played the heck out of that machine.
That was a great summer, raiding the neighborhood
gardens to eat rhubarb, tomatoes, and carrots with
salt and playing pinball for free.
Where did you attend collegecollege or tech train-
ing, and what was your major?
I went to the University of Maine in Fort Kent, right
across the border from Canada, where we often went
for pizza, bowling, and playing pool. If you gave the
customs guys a slice of pizza, they wouldn't hassle
you. It was a teachers' college, and it "taught" me
that I didn't want to be a teacher. One day, I had an
assignment to go observe a high school class. After
observing for an hour, I "observed" that I never
wanted to be a high school teacher. After five years,
I still had not graduated, however, I did meet my
wife, Debbie. We met on Labor Day and got married
on Halloween. We have been married for 54 years.
I finally got my degree about seven years later,
taking night courses. My GPA was actually about
1.99999, and you needed 2.0 to graduate, but they
gave it to me anyway. I got it in the mail. The funny
thing is that the day the college president signed
my degree is the same day he was arrested for
stealing a can of crabmeat from Soucy's IGA and
had to resign. I think my degree might have been
his last official act
How did you get into this industry specifically?
I was driving a forklift at Bates Mill (as in Bates bed-
spreads), but since my wife was looking for a job,
she went to her high school guidance counselor,
who told her that Maine Electronics was looking for
