Tom Milligan has been the Vice President of O'Neil & Associates since 1988 and a member of STC since 1967. Tom has been married to Lois for 38 years, has three grown sons and five grandchildren. He is an elder in the Sugar Creek Presbyterian Church, which meets on the third Wednesday evening in each month, causing him to miss many STC meetings. However, he has attended over 250 Chapter meetings over the years. He has also attended five STC national annual conferences (ITCCs), including three in the 1970s at his personal expense and using vacation time. He commented, “I have always believed that the investor reaps the dividends, so I was glad to invest in my own career.”

In March 1967, Tom completed an associate degree in electrical engineering and accepted employment at McDonnell Aircraft in St. Louis, MO as a maintenance engineer/technical writer. He joined STWP (STC) the first year and recruited enough other new members to receive an STC award.

In 1969 he moved back to his home state of Ohio and has been in Dayton ever since. He worked at SRL (twice), NCR, Digitec, Cincinnati Milacron, and O’Neil & Associates. He has always been highly dedicated to his profession and his employers. He is a proponent of networking and explains, “Three times in the 1970s I completed all the work my employer had and was laid off. The next job I held after each layoff paid a little more and started immediately, so I never missed a day's pay. That's due to networking and being blessed.”

His STC involvement includes acting as co-editor of the newsletter, 1969-70; chapter chair, 1972-73; treasurer, 1973-75, and membership manager, 1975 to about 1998. He has helped judge our publications contests and set up various meetings, including tours of O'Neil.

O'Neil & Associates was founded by Larry O'Neil in 1947. Larry also co-founded the National Aviation Hall of Fame, and the Dayton Chapter of the STWP (STC). In the 1950s the company switched from design engineering to predominantly product documentation. It currently has over 200 employees and develops product support documentation for manufacturers across the U.S. The industries served include aerospace, appliances, material handling equipment, satellite communication systems, military vehicles, and more. The company designs database publishing systems, which deliver serial-number-specific document-on-demand from Web sites they host. Having spent over 30 years with the company, Tom is very pleased that the company has an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP), where the employees are gradually becoming the owners of the company.

He commented with some satisfaction, “I really believe in the power of teamwork; of helping each other. The Cincinnati chapter had folded in the late 1960s. The year I served as chapter chair, we committed to have our meetings south of Dayton to encourage STC members in Cincinnati to become active in our chapter. We changed the name to Southwestern Ohio.”

“In early March, I completed 40 years in this profession. I started when I was just 19. It has been very good to me. I hope to remain a productive professional for another six to eight years. I also hope to return to being more active in STC.”