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Recognizing the Passing of Industry Veteran Brian Keith Fisher
May 13, 2020 | Al FisherEstimated reading time: 2 minutes
The PCB industry recognizes the passing of Brian Keith Fisher of Port Orchard, Washington, on Sunday, May 3, 2020. His network of friends and acquaintances was vast as he had worked in many areas of the industry including as a plater, a laminator, in distribution as a manufacturer’s representative, a copper foil supplier, and ultimately for a copper foil manufacturer. Brian might also be considered one of the fathers of using foil cap lamination, instead of the more common core cap, used in the early stages of multilayer construction. In the early '80s, there were only a few fabricators that were interested in this approach which, has become commonplace today.
Brian’s PCB career began in Palo Alto, California, with a company affiliated with Hewlett Packard. Later on, he moved to Everett, Washington, to join John Fluke Manufacturing. His next stop was Mica Laminates in Culver City, California, working in the technical marketing department supplying copper-clad laminates to the electronics industry. He later returned to Washington state, and in 1979, started American Pacific Marketing to provide Northwest fabricators with many of the consumables used in plating and drilling, progressing from his house to a warehouse in Redmond. In 1997, this business was sold to Electrical Insulation Suppliers, and Brian joined forces with them to coordinate sales of APM’s broad product line. Brian left EIS to begin working at Circuit Foil, providing sales and technical support for their products in the U.S.
Later on, he would leave Circuit Foil to begin a new adventure in the agricultural industry, specifically harvesting, storing, and reselling bee pollen to improve crop yields for farmers for a large part of the West Coast. He performed that duty until mid-2019, at which time he fully retired and pursued his real passion for woodworking from his home with some limited commercial applications.
In the 35 years that Brian was in the industry, competitors would tell you he was a tough guy to get out of an account. He was an innovator and was not afraid to try things even though they had never been done before. He was a leader, a mentor, and a friend to many. He will be missed.
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