Leadership

Telgian is a private corporation, not a franchise, governed by a Board of Directors reporting to Shareholders. Our Board and our Management Team brings a wealth of knowledge from different segments of the industry, creating the breadth and depth of expertise that we are able to offer our clients.

 

Board:

Management:

 

 

Russell B. Leavitt 
Executive Chairman & Board Member

Mr. Russ Leavitt is responsible for long-range strategic planning, human resources and legal. Most recently, Mr. Leavitt was Telgian’s Chief Executive Officer, serving previously as the Managing Member of Fire Materials Group, LLC.  Mr. Leavitt also co-founded the Fire Design Group, which specialized in providing fire protection design documents for architects, developers, and contractors.

Mr. Leavitt is active in many trade and professional associations, and has served in numerous leadership positions including several NFPA committees: NFPA 25 (Inspections, Testing and Maintenance) and the correlating committees for NFPA 5000 (Building Code) and the Automatic Sprinklers Standards. He is a nationally recognized expert in fire sprinkler systems and a regular instructor and speaker for numerous organizations including the National Fire Protection Association and American Fire Sprinkler Association (AFSA). Mr. Leavitt has authored numerous articles and training guides, including the AFSA study guide for NICET certification in Fire Sprinkler System Testing and Inspections. 

Mr. Leavitt is a Level IV NICET certified fire sprinkler layout technician and a Certified Fire Protection Specialist. He holds fire protection contracting licenses in 35 states. Mr. Leavitt earned a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

> return to top

 

James W. Tomes
President, Chief Executive Officer & Board Member

Mr. James Tomes provides overall leadership for Telgian. He is responsible for the execution of the strategic plan and provides direct oversight for sales and marketing. He also oversees the operational and financial success of the company. Previously, Mr. Tomes held the position of President with Telgian and, at various times, served as Chief Executive Officer, President and Chief Operating Officer, Executive Vice President of Marketing and Sales, and Chief Financial Officer of TVA Fire and Life Safety, Inc. He joined TVA as an Account Executive in 1990 after assisting with long-range planning for the company.

Mr. Tomes is a graduate of Brown University with a Degree in Business Economics with a focus on Corporate Finance. In addition to his duties, Mr. Tomes is active in a number of community and professional organizations. He has served on six different boards, and as the president of one. Mr. Tomes was also a past member of the NFPA 30 and 30B committees.

> return to top

 

William S. Holden
Vice President, Operations & Board Member

Mr. Holden currently serves at the director for the Project and Performance Management Office (PPMO) which provides oversight of all project related programs. Mr. Holden began his career in fire protection as a fire sprinkler design technician, and has held numerous positions including lead designer at American Automatic Sprinkler, Inc., Vice President of Technical Services at TVA Fire and Life Safety, Inc. and Chief Operating Officer of Fire Materials Group, LLC.  He was a co-founder of Fire Design Group and is an expert in fire sprinkler design and project management.

> return to top

 

William J. Tomes
Board Member, Chairman Emeritus

Mr. William Tomes began his career as a fire fighter in 1964. He retired in 1985 as Fire Marshal of the City of San Diego, launching a second career in the fire protection vertical as the founder and CEO of Tomes and Associates (Telgian's corporate seed). In 1988 he became Chairman and CEO of Tomes, Van Rickley & Associates which performed Fire and Life Safety consulting for business and government agencies, fire and building code interpretation, risk analysis and hazard evaluation, fire and building plan review, fire sprinkler system design and industry training.

From 1992 to 2007, he led TVA Fire and Life Safety, Inc. as Chairman of the Board. During his tenure, TVA became recognized internationally as the market leader in developing applications for emerging fire protection technologies. Mr. Tomes is still active in business with his service on the Telgian Board of Directors. He promotes his lifelong passion for protecting lives and property by continuing to lead research and development initiatives and serving as an expert witness in fire protection related issues.

> return to top

 

Thomas Wright
Vice President, Government Services & Special Projects, Board Member

Mr. Thomas Wright was a founding partner of Fire Materials Group, LLC and led the company to significant successes and growth in a short six year time frame. He currently serves as Vice President for Government Projects, focusing on developing opportunities with federal, state and local government agencies.

Prior to Fire Materials Group, Mr. Wright enjoyed a successful career in the Mesa Arizona Fire Department where he served as Fire Marshal and was recognized for his strategic thinking and industry involvement. After retiring from the fire service, he continued his involvement in the industry through his participation in various industry organizations and joined TVA Fire and Life Safety, Inc. as a senior consultant. Prior to his current role, he served as the Chief Operating Officer for Fire Materials Group.

> return to top

 

Bruce Elmer
Board Member

Mr. Bruce Elmer has decades of industry experience with major national concerns. He served as Manager of Engineering with Honeywell Systems from 1971 to 1982. Mr. Elmer then served for twelve years with Simplex Fire Alarm elevating himself to Director of Sales and Engineering. He then joined TVA Fire and Life Safety, Inc. as Vice President of Fire Alarm and Security Services. In his years prior to retirement, Bruce was a founding member and major contributor to the success of Fire Materials Group, LLC.

Mr. Elmer has a Bachelor of Science Degree, Political Science from Oakland University and continuing studies in Law at Wayne State University.

> return to top

 

Tracey Bellamy, PE
Executive Vice President, Chief Engineering Officer & Board Member

Mr. Tracey Bellamy joined Telgian in March 1996. In 1999, he was elected to the Board of Directors of TVA Fire and Life Safety, Inc. and currently serves as the Company Engineer of Record. Mr. Bellamy has also held positions including Senior Consultant and Regional Director.

Prior to joining TVA, Mr. Bellamy was the Senior Fire Protection Engineer at Westinghouse Company (Savannah River complex). Mr. Bellamy is active in NFPA and represents the company on a number of technical committees including NFPA 13, 30B, and 101 Safety to Life Code.  He is a graduate of the University of South Carolina with undergraduate and master's degree in Civil Engineering and is pursuing a master's degree in Fire Protection Engineering from the Worcester Polytechnic Institute. He is a registered Fire Protection and Civil Engineer.

> return to top

 

William Thomas, PE
Board Member

Mr. William Thomas joined TVA Fire and Life Safety, Inc. and was appointed to the Board of Directors in 2000. Mr. Thomas works with engineers on full-scale fire test programs and other major engineering projects and develops curriculum design for in-house training and external training programs.

Mr. Thomas has been active in the fire and life safety industry for nearly 40 years and is an internationally recognized expert in the protection of high hazard challenges such as storage.  Mr. Thomas was chairman of the NFPA 231 General Storage Standard for 18 years, was chairman of the NFPA 231C Rack Storage Standard for 3 years, and is a principal of several NFPA Committees. He has authored a number of significant NFPA code changes since 1965 and has authored numerous articles for national magazines as well as the National Fire Protection Association. He is also a Fellow of the Society of Fire Protection Engineers. Mr. Thomas has a Bachelor of Science Degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Maine and is a registered engineer.

> return to top

 

Brian Ballard
Executive Vice President, Operations & Chief Financial Officer

Mr. Brian Ballard joined Telgian in January 2009 as the Chief Financial Officer. He is also responsible for Projects division and is the Treasurer of Telgian. He brings over 25 years of solid Senior Financial Executive experience to Telgian, with prior experience in the aerospace, manufacturing, distribution and warehousing and heavy truck industries. His accomplishments include attaining and maximizing profitability, conceiving and delivering strategic business and operational improvements, managing global operations, negotiating and integrating acquisitions, and fostering and nurturing highly effective teams.

Mr. Ballard received his MBA from the Ohio State University. He holds a BBA in Accounting from the University of Texas. He served in the United States Army, Infantry and 82nd Airborne Division.

> return to top

 

J. Randall Walti
General Counsel & Secretary

Mr. Randall Walti is the company General Counsel and Secretary. He has over 25 years of experience as a general counsel or senior managing attorney in both publicly traded and private companies and the United States government. He has experience in the aerospace, automotive, nuclear, telecommunications, and CAD/CAM/CAE software industries as well as major systems acquisition and procurement experience with the US government.

Mr. Walti spent ten years on active duty with the US Air Force in both combat and non-combat positions and transitioned to the USAF JAG Corps upon leaving active duty. He retired as a Colonel after 24 years of active and reserve duty. Randy earned a Bachelor of Science degree with highest honors from the United States Air Force Academy and a Masters degree in microclimatology from the University of Hawaii. He is a graduate of Georgetown University Law Center in Washington DC.

> return to top

 

Brad Vallem
Executive Vice President, Sales & Marketing

Mr. Brad Vallem joined Telgian in August 2011 to lead the growth and expansion of the sales team. Prior to his current responsibilities, Mr. Vallem built national account management programs and created fire and life safety programs for new verticals across the nation. He brings two decades of industry experience, spending time at large fire protection organizations such as SimplexGrinnell and Siemens Building Technologies.

> return to top

 

Chris Utley
Executive Vice President, Fire Resistant Construction Division

Mr. Utley is the company head of the Fire Resistant Construction Division.  He has over 25 years of construction management experience in fire resistant construction. His expertise includes Spray Applied Fire-Resistant Materials (SFRM), Intumescent Coatings, Gypsum Wallboard/Shaft Assemblies, Fire Resistant Curtain-Wall Assemblies, Through Penetration and Building Joint Firestops, Photolumenescent Egress Systems, Acoustical and Thermal Insulation Systems.  Mr. Utley has produced and managed fire resistant construction contracts on some of the largest design/build projects in the United States.  He has developed proprietary programs used to analyze the impact of the penetration by MEPFP and structural components of fire resistant construction.

> return to top 

Tom Parrish
Vice President, Integration

Mr. Tom Parrish joined Telgian in June 2000 and currently leads the organization’s efforts for jurisdictional compliance and serves on the training and code development committees. He also manages all internal security and life safety program for all Telgian facilities. Prior to his current responsibilities, Mr. Parrish was a lead fire alarm designer for TVA Fire and Life Safety, Inc. where he assisted and facilitated training, provided vital supervision on alarm installation programs and field design of systems for high profile clients such as the Disney Corporation.

Mr. Parrish has nearly 20 years of experience in fire protection and emergency response. He has held positions with municipal fire, law enforcement and emergency medical services and in private industry system design and installation programs. He maintains an active commitment to the profession as an on-call firefighter and is currently certified in firefighting, emergency medical treatment, and hazardous materials response. Tom represents Telgian on a number of NFPA technical committees and is a regular presenter at association meetings and seminars.

Professional credentials include Level IV NICET Certified Fire Alarm Technician, Level III NICET Inspections and Testing, Master Electrician, and he is board certified as a Physical Security Professional by ASIS. He has a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Technology from the Kean University of New Jersey. 

> return to top

 

Ralph E. Bless, Jr.
Vice President, Projects

Mr. Ralph Bless joined TVA Fire & Life Safety, Inc. in July 1998 and has served in multiple technical and leadership roles. Mr. Bless currently serves as a Vice President of Design and is responsible for engineering/consulting which includes fire suppression systems, fire alarm and intrusion systems, hazardous material analysis,   as well as municipal and shop drawing plan review.

Mr. Bless has 30 years of experience in various aspects of fire protection engineering, including system design, consulting, risk analysis, and code review. He has served as a liaison between customers, authorities having jurisdiction, and contractors/suppliers, and has expertise in the design of water-based fire suppression systems and fire and smoke modeling.  Ralph is a Professional Engineer licensed in 6 states is a Level IV NICET senior certified fire sprinkler layout technician. He also holds several state and national certifications including that of Certified Fire Protection Specialist.

> return to top

 

Steve Goyette
Vice President, Risk & Compliance

Steve Goyette joined TVA Fire and Life Safety. Inc. in November 1991 and has served as Telgian’s Vice President for Risk and Compliance since January 2008. In this role, he oversees the operation of Telgian's loss control engineering services as well as the sprinkler and alarm testing and inspections team. Prior to this role, Steve served as the Chief Financial Officer and Division Vice President at TVA.  He joined the company as a Fire Sprinkler Designer and became a Fire Protection Consultant.

Mr. Goyette has 25 years of experience in fire protection design and consulting including fire sprinkler contracting. Professional credentials include Level III NICET certified in Automatic Sprinkler System Layout. He has a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, emphasis in Management, from San Diego State University.

> return to top

 

John D. Campbell, PE, P.Eng, CFPS
Vice President, Engineering

Mr. John Campbell is a Licensed Professional Engineer specialized in the fire protection field. He provides engineering and consulting services on projects in industrial, mercantile, government, and residential occupancies before, during and after construction. He considers factors such as fire resistance, occupancy, water supplies and egress facilities. Prior to joining Telgian, John worked as a Director of Engineering and Field Engineer for Alternatives in Engineering (AIE) for six years. Before AIE, he was a Design/Project Engineer with the Bick Group, a critical facilities design/build specialist firm, and as a Design/Project Engineer with Fire Protection Systems, Inc., an automatic fire sprinkler contracting company.

John is a registered Professional Engineer in all 50 US States, Guam, District of Columbia, and Canadian Provinces of Alberta, British Columbia and Saskatchewan. He is a member of numerous industry  organizations including: National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), Society of Fire Protection Engineers (SFPE), United States Council for International Engineering Practice (USCIEP) and International Code Council (ICC).

> return to top

 

 

Patrick Tesche
Vice President, Compartmentalization Services

Mr. Pat Tesche is responsible for all aspects of the Firestop division, from code consulting and development through training and certification. His current specialties are inspection methods, QA/QC Module and Glossary Appendix. Prior to joining Telgian, Pat served as Senior Project Manager for Global Environmental and Safety LLC. His responsibilities included inspections, assessments, consulting and training. He conducted daily job-site assessments, change orders, and subcontractor agreements.  He prepared statement of conditions for Facility management as well as plan for improvement for clients. He was the Project Manager for surety claims, assessment of work and remediation. 

Pat serves on a variety of industry organizations. He is a Founding Board Member  for the Life Safety Organization, a member of the Firestop Contractors International Association, American Society of Health Care Engineers, National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) and American Society for Testing and Materials.

> return to top

Craig Remsburg
Vice President, Human Resources & Organization Development

Mr. Craig P. Remsburg is Vice President, Human Resources & Organization Development. He was promoted to this corporate division position in November 2007. Prior to his present assignment, he conducted senior consulting projects in fire protection and life safety, and served as the division business leader for the Maintenance Division. Prior to joining Telgian, Craig was a Vice President, Senior Consultant for Marsh Risk Consulting/ Kroll in the Emergency Management field. Craig completed a 20+ year career with The Boeing Company in various managerial roles, such as Fire Chief & Security Manager. He managed the Security Plant Protection organization with over 350 personnel at the St. Louis, MO facility.

Mr. Remsburg has an Associate's degree in Fire Science, Bachelor's degree in Management and a Masters degree in Security Management. He was on the adjunct faculty at Webster University, St. Louis campus in the Security Management Graduate Program. He also is retired as a Master Sergeant from the US Air Force Reserves, where he served as a Fire Protection Specialist.

Mr. Remsburg is active in NFPA and serves on the board of directors for the Industrial Section of that organization.

> return to top

 

Juan Olivari
Vice President, Latin America

Mr. Juan Olivari brings over 30 years of experience in fire protection and executive management and is responsible for providing engineering and construction services in Latin America. Mr. Olivari joined Telgian in Dec. 2004 as the Construction Supervisor for projects in Mexico, Latin America.

Juan is a respected speaker on Fire Protection issues at NFPA and other industry-related conferences both in the United States and Latin America. He holds a degree in Industrial Engineering from the University of Lima, Peru. His professional credentials include NICET and Ansul certifications, among others.

> return to top

 

John Estok

Vice President, Information Technology

Mr. John Estok joined Telgian in 2003 as an application developer and network administrator. Today, he oversees all IT operations across the entire enterprise. John has worked with all aspects of application development including research and requirements gathering, architecture and interface design, coding and development, testing and deployment. In addition, he has extensive background with network/server deployments and administration on many scales; with a passion for performance, stability, reliability and redundancy.

John has 20 years of professional experience in the Information Technology field, working on and implementing both hardware and software solutions.  He holds a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, as well as a degree in statistical analysis.

> return to top

Linked In Contact | Careers Twitter