Board of Directors

Russell B. Leavitt,
Chief Executive Officer

A co-founder of Fire Materials Group, LLC, Mr. Leavitt is responsible for Long-Range Strategic Planning, Business Development, Marketing, Human Resources, and Finance. 

Most recently, Mr. Leavitt was the President and Chief Operating Officer of TVA Fire and Life Safety. He continues to serve on the company’s Board of Directors.  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 associations, and has served in numerous leadership positions including several NFPA committees: NFPA 25 (Inspections, Testing, and Maintenance) and the correlating committee for NFPA 5000 (Building Code).  He is a nationally recognized expert in fire sprinkler systems and a regular instructor and speaker for numerous organizations including the American Fire Sprinkler Association (AFSA).  Mr. Leavitt has written numerous articles, including the study guide for NICET certification in the field of Fire Sprinkler System Testing and Inspections published by the AFSA.  Mr. Leavitt is a Level IV NICET certified fire sprinkler layout technician and holds licenses in more than 30 states for Fire Protection Contracting System Inspections and Testing. Mr. Leavitt earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. 

James W. Tomes,
President

Mr. James Tomes, provides overall leadership for the Telgian Companies. Mr. Tomes focuses on Long-Range Strategic Planning and Business Development, as well as, Marketing, Personnel, and Finance. Prior to becoming Chief Operating Officer in 2007, Mr. Tomes held positions in TVA Fire and Life Safety, Inc. as Chief Executive Officer, President and Chief Operating Officer, Executive Vice President of Marketing and Sales, and Chief Financial Officer. He joined TVA as an Account Executive in 1990 after assisting with long-range planning for the company. He is a graduate of Brown University with a Degree in Business Economics and a focus on Corporate Finance.

Charles R. Brown, Jr.
Chief Operating Officer

Charles Brown joined Fire Materials Group in March 2004 and is responsible for their Information Systems, marketing efforts and Sales operations. Prior to joining Fire Materials Group, LLC,, Mr. Brown was President and Managing Partner of Charles Brown Management, a professional services company specializing in corporate growth through implementation and redevelopment of operations, information management systems, call centers, CRM, and change management.

Mr. Brown’s career accomplishments include project management leadership in the design, implementation, and operational development of ADT’s national sales and service center in Jacksonville, Florida, which allowed ADT to double its consumer business within a few short years. As a director at Wells Fargo Alarm, Mr. Brown led the final release and roll out of SecureVision, an innovative product.  At SecurityLink from Ameritech, Mr. Brown built a national sales and service center designed to accommodate the company’s rapid growth and subsequent sale to ADT/Tyco.  At Charles Brown management he led a professional services group that served global companies like Citibank, American Express, Belgicom and many others. 

William S. Holden,
Member
Division President, Construction Division
A co-founder of Fire Materials Group, LLC, Mr. Holden provides oversight of all construction services, such as the Furnished by Owner (FBO) installation 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., and Vice President of Technical Services at TVA Fire and Life Safety. 

Mr. Holden was a co-founder of Fire Design Group and sits on the board of directors for TVA. He is an expert in fire sprinkler design and project management.

William J. Tomes
Member, Chairman Emeritus

Starting a career as a fire fighter in 1964 and retiring in 1985 as Fire Marshal of the City of San Diego, Mr. Tomes launched a second career in the Fire protection vertical as founder and CEO, Tomes and Associates (Telgian's corporate seed). In 1988 he Chaired and was CEO of Tomes, Van Rickley & Associates which performed Fire and Life Safety counseling for business and government agencies. Fire and Building Code interpretation, Risk Analysis and Hazard evaluation, Plan Review, Fire Sprinkler Systems, Training and Seminars.

From 1992 to 2002, he led TVA Fire and Life Safety , Inc. as Chairman of the Board and Co-Chaired the company through 2007. 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, is very active with the Telgian Board of Directors and continues his life long passion for protecting people and property by continuing to lead research and development initiatives.

Thomas Wright
Member

Mr. Wright, retired Chief Operating Officer and a founding partner in Fire Materials Group, LLC and led the company to very significant successes and tremendous growth in a short six year period. Prior to Fire Materials Group, Mr. Wright completed and retired from a successful career in the Mesa Arizona Fire Department where he served as Fire Marshal.

Mr. Wright continues to serve Telgian in many capacities including New Associate Orientation presentations on Fire Materials Group histories and business evolution, and he serves vigorously in his duties on the Telgian Board of Directors.

Bruce Elmer
Member

Mr. 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 as Vice President /Director of Fire Alarm and Security Services. In his years prior to retirement Mr. Elmer became a partner and major contributor to the successes 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.

Tracey Bellamy, PE,
Member
Vice President, Quality and Standards, TVA Fire and Life Safety, Inc
Mr. Bellamy has been employed with TVA since March of 1996. He was elected to the Board of Directors in 1999, and is the Company Engineer of Record. Mr. Bellamy has held other positions within TVA, including 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 a graduate of the University of South Carolina with undergraduate and Master's Degree in Civil Engineering. He currently is pursuing a Master's Degree in Fire Protection Engineering from the Worcester Polytechnic Institute. He is a registered Fire Protection Engineer and Civil Engineer.

William Thomas, PE,
Member
Executive Vice President of Research and Testing, TVA Fire and Life Safety, Inc
Mr. Thomas joined TVA in 2000 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 was Chairman of the NFPA 231 General Storage Standard for eighteen years, was Chairman of the NFPA 231C Rack Storage Standard for three years, and is the principal of several NFPA Committees. He has authored several NFPA code changes since 1965 and has written 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 has attended more than 50 seminars involving fire protection during the past 37 years.