Meet CJ Simonds, SET | President/CEO , Vulcan Fire

We had the good fortune of connecting with CJ Simonds, SET and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi CJ, how has your background shaped the person you are today?
Growing up as a firefighter’s son in Morrison Colorado. I’m a native of Colorado and live in Littleton with my wife and Two youngest children. My oldest Daughter lives nearby and lives on her own. I always looked up to my father. He was tough, but fair. He taught me how to be honest, show integrity and be a man of my word. Amongst hundreds of other life lessons. My father was old school, where a handshake was a contract between two people.

I always had a dream of being in the fire service field. Once I graduated high school in Lakewood, Colorado, I started pursuing a degree in Fire Science Technology. I was lucky enough to be hired onto a local fire department at 19 years old. I continued college and worked on my days off for a local fire alarm business in Denver. I realized I really liked the life safety and prevention side of the industry. I finished college and became a fire investigator and EMT. in 1998 I resigned from the fire department and took the life safety business head on. I worked for a local fire protection contractor in Denver from 1993 to 2018. Over that time, I moved up through position’s from fire extinguisher technician to Vice President and Owner. I left that company in July 2018 due to partner changes and vision changes. Although hard to leave and scary as well. I had to remember all of the great people who helped my be a success and remember all of the great life lessons I learned along the way and just go for it.
In October 2018 I decided to start my own company with a business partner that I worked with for years. In just a few years we are at 25 employee’s and the largest Notifier fire systems dealer in Colorado. We have won the Notifier Diamond Distributor Award, the Wheat Ridge City’s Best Award and the Better Business Bureau’s Spark Award.

Alright, so for those in our community who might not be familiar with your business, can you tell us more?
I am so proud of what we have built here at Vulcan Fire. My business partner and I decided early on that we needed the “best of the best” in the industry. We built the team we have by design and brought them in a strategic order to help build the company. We were exceptionally fortunate that ALL of the employees we sought, wanted to come work with us to build a new company. The forefront on the the thought process was simple. Go visit potential clients that we want to work with. Clients that are like minded and want relationships and not just a one and done type transaction. We listened to their frustrations, obstacles and needs. This is how we are going to build the company and what we built it around. We had to provide a level of service and communication our industry was missing or had lost over time.

In addition, we had to partner with the right manufactures. Our familiarity was with Notifier by Honeywell. The elite fire alarm systems manufacture in the world. With just a few guys and working out of a garage, this was a longshot. After many meetings, business plans and our long history with working with them, they decided to add Vulcan as a dealer. This was a game changer. We now had the best product, the best employees and the best customers.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
I would take them to Glenwood Springs to see the hot springs, enjoy some rides at the top of the mountain, visit Doc Holliday’s grave site and show them the fallen firefighters memorial from the Storm King Mountain Fire. We would grab dinner and drinks at Doc Holliday’s restaurant. Then I would take the through the Black Canyon in Gunnison, Colorado, followed by renting a pontoon and cruising Blue Mesa Reservoir. Head back toward Denver and Visit Colorado Springs and show them the Cave of the Winds and Garden of the God’s. Enjoying local pubs and restaurants along the way.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I have many shoutouts’ in my career. My father was and always has been my biggest Champion. However, in the business sense. It would have to be Robert G. Taylor, RPA (Bob). I worked for and directly reported to Bob in in fire protection business from 1995-2014. Robert was a wealth of knowledge and a retired career military guy. He was a Mater/First Sergeant in the Airforce. So needless to say, he was about getting things done and done right. Bob taught me to be consistent, whether it be in my position or as a leader. He taught me to be accurate, if not even perfect in what I did in my job (mostly paperwork). Bob was tough, but fair. He also taught me a lot about myself. When I was messing up at work or frustrated with something personally, Bob talked me through it by analyzing and not jumping to conclusions. I really enjoyed working with Bob and we still are great friends today.

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Vulcan Fire