Management Team

Russell B Leavitt,
Chief Executive Officer, Chariman of the Board

A co-founder of Fire Materials Group, LLC, Mr. Leavitt is responsible for long-range strategic planning, business development, marketing, human resources, and finance.  Mr. Leavitt co-founded Fire Design Group, which specialized in providing fire protection design documents for architects, developers, and contractors and which became a part of TVA fire and Life Safety.  He also co-founded Fire Materials Group, LLC, TVA's sister company which delivers construction, compliance testing and inspections as well as maintenance services. 

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,
Chief Operating Officer

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 Information Officer

Mr. Brown joined Fire Materials Group in March 2004 and led the centralization of TVA FIre and Life Safety and Fire Materials Group, LLC information and accounting systems in 2006.  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. 

Ralph E. Bless, Jr., PE,
President, Professional Solutions Division
Mr. Bless is an engineer and consultant with more than 21 years of experience in providing fire protection engineering, code analysis, risk analysis, and property hazard control services. Mr. Bless is responsible for developing and managing TVA's project design services. Mr. Bless attended Oklahoma State University. He also holds the following professional designations: registered professional engineer (WI, OK, ME, VT, MD, and NC), NICET Level IV, Certified Uniform Fire Code Inspector, and is a member of NFPA, SFPE, IFCI, and NICET.

Stephen Goyette,
Executive Vice President, Risk Solutions Division
Mr. Goyette joined TVA in 1991 and was appointed Executive Vice President, Risk Solutions in 2006 after having served as chief financial officer and corporate secretary/treasurer since 2002. Prior to joining the executive ranks within TVA, Mr. Goyette held positions within TVA including divisional vice president, regional director, fire protection consultant, design manager, and designer. Prior to TVA, he worked at American Automatic Sprinkler Company. Mr. Goyette graduated from San Diego State University with a bachelor of science degree in business administration with an emphasis on management.

John Campbell

Vice President of Engineering

Mr. Campbell joined the company in 2000.  He is a Fire Protection Engineer providing fire protection/loss prevention consulting for a variety of commercial and industrial clients throughout the United States.  Mr. Campbell has a degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Missouri and a Masters in Business Administration from Fontbonne College.  He is a Registered Professional Engineer (PE), and a member of the following associations: ASHRAE, NFPA, Society of Fire Protection Engineers (International), National Society of Professional Engineers, Missouri Society of Professional Engineers.

Tracey Bellamy, PE,
Vice President, Quality and Standards
Mr. Bellamy has been employed with TVA since March of 1996, 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 degrees 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,
Executive Vice President of Research and Testing
Mr. Thomas joined the company 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.

Dana Parker,
Executive Vice President of Business Development
Mr. Parker joined the company in 2004. He is responsible for developing strategies that build market share, penetrate new market segments, and position the company for future growth. He is also charged with recruiting and developing additional team members. Mr. Parker came to TVA from GE GAP Services/Industrial Risk Insurers. He has more than eighteen years of experience in the loss prevention field and has spent more than twelve years serving in leadership and management positions. Mr. Parker has a degree in chemical engineering from Youngstown State University.

Karen Bradbury,
Vice President, National Accounts

Ms. Bradbury joined Fire Materials Group, LLC in April 2002 and has served as the vice president of national accounts since July 2004.  She maintains her leadership role in the same capacity for Telgian Inc. Prior to her current position, Ms. Bradbury had numerous managerial responsibilities at Fire Materials Group, LLC operations, including database management, testing and inspection scheduling, and in-house IT troubleshooting and support.  Before joining Fire Materials Group, LLC, Ms. Bradbury was employed by the Fountain Hills Unified School District, where she was responsible for the management of a district-wide training program for teachers in the use of software and hardware for the classroom. Ms. Bradbury graduated from college with a degree in marketing.