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BIOGRAPHY OF J1~N DiETZ
<br />Jon Dietz received his Bachelor of Arts in History and Chinese
<br />Studies from the University of Califomia at San Diego in 1975.
<br />He then lived and studied for a year in Hang Kong before
<br />returning to the U.S. to attend the American Graduate School
<br />of IntemationaE Management in Phoenix, Arizona, In 1978, he
<br />received his Masters degree in International Management with
<br />an emphasis in Finance, Asian Affairs and Chinese language,
<br />But even more life changing, it was in Phoenix working on the
<br />same Masters degree where Jon met the person he would
<br />share his life with, Jennifer P. 'Woody.
<br />In 1982, Jon and Jennifer married, and they now have two
<br />beautiful daughters, Tricia, age 17 and Christina, age 15. Jon
<br />is CEO of Financial Statement Services, Inc. (FSSI} and
<br />Jennifer serves as the company's President. Her focus on
<br />process has helped define FSSI's approach to the industry's
<br />growing complexity. Jon refers to Jennifer as "the organized
<br />one".
<br />But in 1979, before getting marled and starting a family, Jan
<br />began working for CB~J Marketing, Inc. as a salesman, selling
<br />minicomputer systems and software to credit unions
<br />throughout Southern Califomia. From this sales experience
<br />came the idea of starting a service company catering to the
<br />specific needs of smaller financial institutions. When the
<br />company C&J Marketing sold systems far was acquired by a
<br />larger Texas based firm, Jon decided to stay in California and
<br />his entrepreneurial tendencies motivated him to begin his own
<br />company in 1980.
<br />The first few years, Jon worked out of the dining room in his
<br />home and his 'l6 Granada. Jon worked an average of 60 to
<br />80 hours weekly and most n~hts sleeping only a few hours.
<br />Jan was working under slim margins of profit and trade credit,
<br />requiring his customers to pay him in less than 30 days, so that
<br />he in turn could pay his vendors on time. Nevertheless, Jon's
<br />peanut butter and jelly sandwich diet and long hours of hard
<br />work were paying off and by January of 1981, he had fifteen
<br />customers and a DBA was filed under the name Financial
<br />Statement Services.
<br />Jon Dietz incorporated the company in 1984 (adding "Inc,° to
<br />the name) and the next year a business plan was written that
<br />sought to consolidate all the services under one roof, making
<br />FSSI a producer of the services, as opposed to a broker, a
<br />pivotal change, The first step toward implementing the plan
<br />was taken in 1986 when Jon leased 7,500 SF of space in
<br />Irvine and purchased the company's first two used ?ierox 9700
<br />laser printers. In 1993, FSSI had a tremendous growth spurt
<br />and Jon moved the company to 3232 S. Fairview St. in Santa
<br />Ana.
<br />However, in 1996, business challenges arose from the loss of
<br />several signi5cant customer contracts. Jon and Jennifer led
<br />FSSI through this challenging period of near-bankruptcy. They
<br />worked long hours in pursuit of customer contracts to pull them
<br />out of the red. They proposed a deal to AirTouch Cellular (now
<br />Verizon Wireless) and convinced AirTouch that. FSSI was the
<br />best choice for outsourcing their statement printing and
<br />mailing. This huge new contract allowed for FSSI to instantly
<br />become profitable,
<br />Because of the sacrifices, diligence and leadership that Jon,
<br />Jennifer and the FSSI management team demonstrated
<br />through this adverse period, the company survived. !n fact, it
<br />grew to over 300 employees and FSSI expanded into a
<br />167,000 SF state-of-the-art facility in Santa Ana in October of
<br />2001, The company has had more up and down cycles, but
<br />the team Jon and Jennifer put together always seems to come
<br />through.
<br />Despite his incredibly busy work schedule, Jon serves on four
<br />major working boards. Since 1995, Jon has been a board
<br />member (and is curmently the Chairman) of the Santa Ana
<br />Workforce Investment Board (WIB), previously known as the
<br />Private Industry Council. The WIB is made up of
<br />representatives from the business community, educational
<br />institutions, non-profits and community-based organizations
<br />that ouersee approximately $4 million in annual funds for job
<br />training programs. Jon is active on the Santa Ana Chamber
<br />of Commerce Board of Directors, and served two years as
<br />its Chairman. He currently heads up the Chamber's Housing
<br />subcommit#ee. In January, 1999, Jan assisted the city with
<br />being awarded designation as a Federal Empowerment Zone
<br />(FEZ) through his show of support in the application submitted
<br />to the U.S. Government. From 1999 to 2005, Jon served on
<br />the Santa Ana Federal Empowerment Zorte Board of
<br />Directors, with the responsibility of overseeing the grant
<br />funding (varying from $3.3 million to $12 million annually) and
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