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by Stephen Parezo

Dan Manciu

August 7, 2006—Dan Manciu is the type of a pilot you want at the controls when the going gets tough. And he’s just the kind of tax advisor that small business owners need to help keep their operations safe when things get rocky.

By the end of this week Manciu will be back at his post in Fiducial’s office in The Dalles, OR. That’s after having flown the most powerful helicopter in the nation’s fleet, the Chinook, for 18 months in Afghanistan as part of Operation Enduring Freedom.

Manciu has spent 28 of the last 40 years serving in the military as part of the regular army and the National Guard including two tours of Vietnam. On three different occasions, his helicopter was hit and he and his crew were shot down, earning him the nickname “Bullet Magnet” and the Air Medal of Valor. While flying into heavy enemy fire, he’s proud of the fact that he never lost a single crew member as a pilot.

After spending a year and a half away in harm’s way, Manciu must now re-establish the base camp that he founded in 1977. Fiducial purchased his business in 2002 and he now manages the office.

Fiducial tax advisor Dan Manciu of The Dalles, OR, earned the Air Medal of Valor while flying the most powerful helicopter in the nation’s fleet, the Chinook, for 18 months in Afghanistan as part of Operation Enduring Freedom.

Unemployment was high in The Dalles when the main employer, an aluminum plant, closed down a few years ago.

“That hit the community pretty hard,” said Manciu. “It’s been kind of a slow process but they’re coming back.”

Manciu acknowledges that he has some catching up to do and that includes taking some Continuing Professional Education (CPE) courses once his office is up and running again.

“I’ve been pretty much in a holding pattern since I got back,” he said.

Common sense, good judgment

Critical to his emotional health overseas was the knowledge that he knew what was in store for him when he returned home. He says life is much harder for other veterans who don’t know what life holds for them when they return.

“I was a little older so I had a much better grasp on things,” he said. “You have to come back and get re-established and get it [the business] up and running again. I was a little more grounded.”

Well-known in The Dalles business circles, Manciu plans to do plenty of marketing and draw upon his participation in several organizations such as the Chamber of Commerce and the Rotary Club to help him reconnect with his network to spark business development.

With a degree in business management from Portland State University and 30 years of accounting experience, Manciu is well-equipped to assist entrepreneurs in the increasingly competitive small business market. He specializes in providing tax expertise and business counseling through personal contact.

“You can go online and get the answer but sometimes you need to talk to somebody,” he said. With the types of businesses in The Dalles running pretty much across the board, advising companies makes him feel “like a general practitioner.”

The same attributes that Manciu exemplifies as an expert pilot can help guide small business owners. He says what makes a good pilot is “common sense and good judgment.”

“There’s an old saying that goes there are old pilots and bold pilots but there are no old, bold pilots,” he added. “That’s the catchword. You do the safe things and keep the common sense and you’ll stay around.”

Stephen Parezo is the Media Manager for Fiducial.

Whatever your small business needs, your Fiducial tax and financial professional can analyze your situation and recommend an appropriate action plan. To locate a Fiducial office nearest you on fiducial.com, see the Zip Code Locator located in the upper right hand corner of the page. Do you have a particular topic that we should be writing about that can help your business? Please send your suggestions to: stephen.parezo@fiducial.com.

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