June 11, 2007

Volume 85, Number 24

Web Exclusive

At CAS, A Value-Added Career

John Manley, Senior Financial Adviser, Cost Accounting

In 1980, I decided that CAS was a good place to work, but not a great place to work, so I put together a plan to get my M.B.A. and then find a great place to work. After finishing my studies in 1983, I went about trying to find a better job. I went on a number of interviews, but I always came away with the feeling that they were offering me no more, and in most cases less, than I already had at CAS. It didn't take too long for me to figure out that I really did work at a great place.

It's a little bit like the famous line in "The Wizard of Oz": "There's no place like home." I am extremely grateful that I was unable to find a different job back in those early years, and over the years, I have hired a number of individuals who have reminded me, "You don't know what it's like at other companies."

Dale Baker, a former CAS director, was an extraordinary individual, and I always looked up to him, much in the same way I do Bob Massie, the current CAS director. Dale's passion for what CAS was doing, his stature in the chemistry and local community, and his stewardship to modernize CAS from a print operation to an automated system are the things I think make him legendary.

Dale was a "regular guy" who always liked to have lunch in the cafeteria with the "Finance Boys." I enjoyed the privilege of having lunch with the CEO on a semiregular basis. Although he had lunch with us, he rarely talked business. He wanted to stay in touch with the staff.

There have been two particular accomplishments at CAS that I am most proud to have been a part of. First, in the early 1980s, I was part of the team that established the STN Network. In those early years, we had to develop a billing system and determine the flow of financial information to each of the STN locations. Second, from 1998 to 2000, I was part of the team that built the CAS data center.

In addition to working at CAS for more than 30 years, other members of my family have worked or still are working there as well. Two of my wife's sisters worked at CAS—Carol Keller, since retired, worked in marketing, and Donna Bone is still working for the Publications Division. Both of my sisters-in-law had more than 20 years of service. Also, my stepson Matthew Greenwood has worked in the IT Division for more than five years.

Manley has a bachelor's degree in business from Ohio State University (1972) and an M.B.A. from the University of Dayton (1983). He started at CAS in 1976 as a payroll and accounts payable supervisor in the General Accounting Department. In his current position, he reports to the vice president of finance.

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