Dan Cashier: making the time to help others. (Public Service Award).

For his volunteer work in San Luis Obispo County, Pismo Beach CPA Dan Cashier--a member of five organizations that improve the lives of San Luis Obispo residents--is this year's winner of the CalCPA Public Service Award.

A past president of the Central Coast Chapter, Cashier moved to San Luis Obispo County in 1998 after spending more than 40 years working in the Los Angeles area. Although he started BPM Consulting in Pismo Beach to advise startup businesses and entrepreneurs, he found his time increasingly committed to volunteer work.

"The opportunities came up, and it was a good way to meet other members of the community," Cashier says.

As chairman of the Sheriff's Advisory Council of San Luis Obispo County, Cashier oversees a program that provides advanced law enforcement training and workshops for sheriff deputies.

Cashier is also a board member and former president of the Central Coast Commission for Senior Citizens, which administers several mil lion dollars in federal and state grants for services to 14,000 senior citizens.

Because some of the subcontractors for meals, transportation and in-home care had gone into debt and become financial risks, Cashier helped develop a policy that requires service subcontractors to prove their solvency.

CPA Jeanne Potter, who nominated Cashier for the award, says he brings innovation and tireless compassion to organizations.

"He exemplifies the ideal many of us hope to achieve," says Potter, a director of Glenn, Burdette, Phillips & Bryson in San Luis Obispo. "He's raised the level of professionalism among his fellow volunteers. Mention public service in our Central Coast Chapter and Dan comes immediately to mind."

Cashier draws inspiration for his volunteer activities from the motto of Rotary International: "Service Above Self"--fitting since he'll become president of Arroyo Grande's Rotary Club in July. He is also president of the county's Lincoln Club and a member of the Interim Hospital Authority Board, which seeks to improve county health services.

"My volunteer work has given me the opportunity to touch the lives of thousands of people," says Cashier, who readily admits that he devotes more time to his community activities than his business.

"Like most people, I spent my life raising a family and going to work. Now I have the time for others."

Cashier brings years of knowledge and experience to his public service, Potter says, making every organization he's been involved in more prepared.

"Most of the groups Dan's worked with have lacked business plans, written goals and documentable procedures," Potter says. "He's enlightened volunteer boards to the needs for strategic planning, and has implemented long-range vision by blueprinting step-by-step plans that future boards and personnel can follow." Cashier and his wife, Willo, have three children: Denise of Arroyo Grande, Robert of Thousand Oaks and Debbie of Lake Ellsinore.