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Company History
Fire Recovery USA, LLC evolved over a period of several years. Although the current company was formed in early 2008 when the company expanded its operations and relocated its headquarters to Roseville, California, it was birthed from the original Fire Recovery USA, which began in 2006.
Several years ago, Troy Walsh, one of our founders and CEO, recognized fire departments throughout the country were facing declining budgets. As a former paramedic in the San Francisco Bay Area, he wanted to find a way to help replace those funds. During his investigation, he found a few fire departments had been billing for some of their services for over a decade. Over a period of two years, he looked into the viability of the concept, interviewed respected and influential industry insiders, and tried to determine why the vast majority of departments were not billing.
He found most fire departments are simply unaware of their right to bill, or those that bill “in house” have extremely low collection percentages. He also learned private collection companies while much better, left a lot of room for improvement.
Troy began to search for a group of individuals whose combined skill sets would provide the footing to set his new company apart from any potential competition. The goal was to have a company offering the best customer service and the highest funding percentage in the industry. Troy’s desire was to meet the needs of fire departments to improve their capabilities through increased funding, and therefore provide better equipment, more manpower, etc.
After concluding his initial research on cost recovery, Troy invited Mike Rivera, a business owner he highly respected, to co-found Fire Recovery USA and join the team as Chief Business Development Officer. Mike was charged with developing the initial business plan, pulling the various components of the business together, and stratigize long-term marketing and business development.
Mike quickly grasped the tremendous potential this business opportunity presented to fire departments in need of critical funding. Upon performing some in depth research, he recognized Fire Recovery USA could fill the void in fire department funding and provide a service superior to any other in the industry. Troy and Mike moved slowly and strategically as they developed their business plan, making sure not to over-promise on the company’s deliverables.
Mike knew of a local businessman named Greg Schmidt, a Certified Public Accountant with over sixteen years experience in the billing and collections industry, who would be an enormous source of direction and assistance in the company’s development. Although Greg owns several successful companies, his main business, VGS Associates, Inc., has developed large accounts in contingency telecom billing and collections with a client base of primarily Fortune 500 companies. After a series of meetings and discussions, Troy and Mike decided to offer Greg the opportunity to join the business as an equity investor. Greg quickly realized the relatively untapped potential of the business and accepted the offer becoming the managing member of the LLC to oversee the company’s business operations. Greg’s involvement with the company brought an added benefit to the company, access to Greg’s management team.
Greg’s team includes Rick Benner who currently functions as the company’s Chief Operating Officer. Rick, the former President of the NBA’s Sacramento Kings and Arco Arena, has 31 years of experience in business operations and finance in a variety of industries.
Our team was expanded in July of 2009 by the addition of Kevin Trost and Gary Hess as partners. Kevin is a retired Captain of 25 years with the Sacramento Fire Department and is nationally known for his expertise in fire department operations. He also brings a strong working knowledge of all aspects of the fire department including administration and finance. As Executive Vice President of Sales and Consulting, Kevin brings the organizational skills needed to manage the company’s nationwide network of consultants and representatives.
As a Senior Advisor, Gary Hess brings his own set of business and management skills earned in his career as an owner or senior manager of companies in high growth environments. He also provides Fire Recovery USA access to his management team comprised of individuals with a breadth of worldwide experience.
His team includes Bobby Feigler as a Special Advisor and Thorne Auchter as our Government Liaison. Bobby is a proven executive, and has built and led commercial and business development organizations in global multinational corporations and early stage companies alike. Thorne brings years of senior management experience in both public and private sectors. His creative and innovative approach along with a strong goal orientation and business savvy, has allowed him to consistently achieve tough objectives in highly competitive industries … often under tight time and budgetary constraints. Additionally, as the former Assistant Secretary of Labor for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (as appointed by President Ronald Reagan), Thorne has hands-on experience and knowledge of federal government agencies, organizations and legal processes.
With the management team in place Fire Recovery USA continues to embark on its mission of growing the client base and providing much needed financial assistance to fire departments across the country. To help us accomplish this goal we have a nationwide network of nine Cost Recovery Consultants, twenty- five Level II Cost Recovery Specialists, and one hundred and forty Level I Cost Recovery Representatives who assist fire departments in their relationship with Fire Recovery USA.
Of course, our corporate staff also includes our Recovery Center teams, accounting and legal departments, as well as general administration personnel.
We are the only fire billing service to be partnered with the IAFC (International Association of Fire Chiefs).
Based on the people and relationships described above, we believe Fire Recovery USA has a foundation beyond counterpart to support the company’s growth, and expects to continue as the fastest-growing company in our industry. We have positioned ourselves as the industry’s leader in both customer service and unparalleled collection rates.
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Troy Walsh, co-founder and CEO
Troy began his fire service career as an Emergency Medical Technician/Paramedic in the San Francisco Bay Area in 1990.
While serving as a paramedic, Troy noticed the daily problems firefighters faced working with fire hoses. Therefore, in 2002, he invented a tool that rolled fire hose - the first sign of Troy’s entrepreneurial skills. Named the “Hose Tamer”, the device saved valuable time and was less taxing for firefighters in the field. In conjunction with inventing the “Hose Tamer”, Troy developed and implemented a marketing plan for the product and negotiated a worldwide licensing agreement with Tyco International, the current distributor of the product. As a result of his work with the “Hose Tamer” he was retained as a marketing consultant by Niedner, a leader in fire hose manufacturing.
In 2003 Troy joined Thermo Fisher Scientific, Inc. and was responsible for the promotion and sale of large-ticket fire and medical equipment to cities and fire departments. He thrived with Fisher and quickly earned the industry’s respect while claiming numerous awards and added responsibilities with the company.
During his five years with Fisher and continued exposure to fire department operations, he became acutely aware of the financial challenges facing many of his fire clients. Soon his entrepreneurial nature came to the fore and he began to conceptualize a business concept to assist fire departments in billing for the services they provide—a somewhat revolutionary idea for fire departments. Over the course of the next two years he finalized the initial company plan, and along with longtime friend and businessman, Mike Rivera, formed Fire Recovery USA, LLC.
Troy currently provides direction and leadership for the company, while primarily focusing on growing the client base and strategic corporate relationships.
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Mike Rivera, co-founder and Chief Business Development Officer
Mike has spent his entire professional career in business and sales management, developing companies from conceptualization to implementation. His business experience started with a foundation of ten years in sales and sales management with several large multinational companies, including Konica Minolta, Inc. and Millicom Communications Worldwide, Inc.
In 1991, Mike elected to start his own company and founded Professional Displays which designed and produced tradeshow displays and graphics on a nationwide basis. When Mike sold the company in 2006, his company had become firmly established as a leader in the tradeshow industry.
Mike’s second entrepreneurial venture was in 2001 as co-founder and co-owner of Sage Creek, Inc. This company developed distribution channels for organic food products. Sage Creek, Inc. successfully created unique inroads for its emerging market and has since been consolidated with another company.
In 2003, Mike became a co-founder and co-owner of On-Site Events, Inc. As an innovative corporate event planning company, On-Site Events quickly established itself as a major player in a very competitive field. Although Mike is no longer associated with On-Site Events, he helped establish the basic precepts of the company that has matured into a progressive event management company with a reputation for working and performing “out of the box”.
Mike particularly relishes his involvement as a co-founder of Fire Recovery USA, LLC. In 2006, his friend and co-founder, Troy Walsh, discussed the idea with him and Mike immediately embraced the concept, recognizing the opportunity to offer an innovative funding program to fire departments and their governments. Mike has been integrally involved with each step of the company’s development and is committed to leading the company’s growth and expansion. His daily responsibilities with the company include business development and marketing.
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| Greg Schmidt, Managing Member
Greg comes from a diverse business background, beginning with the international accounting firm Grant Thornton where he earned his certification in public accounting (CPA). In 1992 Greg conceived and developed VGS Associates, Inc., a rapidly growing consulting concern in the field of expense contingency auditing and collection of claims for its clients. Citigroup, Motorola, Hewlett Packard, Ford, Northrop Grumman, BP, Honeywell, Wachovia, and ADP were among the hundreds of companies that became clients through Greg’s management.
While eventually achieving a high level of financial success with VGS, Greg grew acutely aware of the challenges facing those starting and growing companies from inception. In 2007 Greg decided to lend his business expertise to entrepreneurs and early-stage companies by forming Twelve Windows, Inc. This organization applies its resources and experience in actively investing and assisting in the growth of other companies, including Fire Recovery USA, LLC.
Twelve Windows functions as the managing member of Fire Recovery USA, LLC and, leaning on Greg’s experience in the bill audit industry, is responsible for conceptualizing and operating the company’s billing and collection efforts.
Through various other entities he owns, Greg has investments in real estate and other business and investment projects.
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| Kevin Trost, Executive Vice President of Sales and Consulting
Kevin is a retired Captain from the Sacramento Fire Department with 25 years of service. Kevin has extensive experience working in fire department operations and brings a strong working knowledge of all aspects of the fire department including administration and finance. His desire to continue to contribute to the fire service drew him to Fire Recovery USA, LLC. He was introduced to the company and recognized an opportunity to utilize his special talents and industry relationships to help Fire Recovery USA, LLC realize its business objectives. His skills and abilities have been a welcome addition to the Fire Recovery team.
Kevin has an insider’s perspective of fire department operations and provides Fire Recovery USA, LLC with a significant asset to assist in establishing relationships with fire departments across the country. In his role as Vice President of Sales and Consulting, the company is using his organizational skills and national stature to grow and manage its state by state network of sales consultants and representatives.
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| Rick Benner, Chief Financial Officer
Rick began his career in accounting and finance. After practicing for several years as a certified public accountant with an international public accounting firm, he became Vice President of Finance for the National Basketball Association’s Kansas City Kings before relocating with the team to Sacramento, California in 1985. He quickly developed an expertise in the NBA’s salary cap and negotiated multi-million dollar player contracts on behalf of the Kings organization. Rick was promoted to president of the Kings and Arco Arena in 1989 and at the time was the youngest president of any major professional sports franchise. As president he had overall responsibility for ticket sales, radio and television game broadcasts and advertising sales, media and public relations, in arena advertising and arena operations, including concessions, security and parking. He remained in the role as president through 1999.
After leaving the Kings, he has owned and assisted in the development of businesses in the health care, transportation and mortgage industries.
Rick joined Greg Schmidt and his family of companies in 2007 and as a result was introduced to Fire Recovery USA. He was immediately interested in the concept of providing funding for fire departments and is considered a major asset of the organization. He assists in all areas of the company’s business development while focusing on the finance and operation of the billing, collection and reporting activities.
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| Gary Hess, Senior Advisor
Gary began his sales career in the mid-eighties and quickly became a success in a variety of markets and industries. He sold into federal, municipal fire, domestic preparedness, healthcare and industrial safety markets for over 20 years.
He developed strategic plans that consistently exceeded revenue, profitability, customer service and market penetration goals. His responsibilities included managing multi-million dollar corporate sales accounts and large government contracts.
As Fire Recovery USA’s Senior Advisor, Gary brings his invaluable skills as a visionary and team builder, as well as his strategic and tactical selling expertise. He not only provides his set of business and management skills, but also gives the company access to his management team with worldwide experience, including Bobby Feigler and Thorne Auchter.
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| Bobby Feigler, Special Advisor
Bobby is a proven executive, and has built and led commercial and business development organizations in global multinational corporations and early stage companies alike. He has significant entrepreneurial experience in starting and growing businesses with over 19 years of sales and business development leadership experience focused on providing solutions to the government, life sciences and other highly regulated marketplaces.
Bobby co-founded SciQuest.com, a web-based e-procurement software company. The company went public in 1999. Bobby has directly led teams in the Fire and Domestic Preparedness industries, most recently as Vice President Sales with Thermo Fisher Scientific. Bobby brings his expertise in large-scale business development to the company and developed a long-term strategic growth model designed to cement Fire Recovery USA as the leader in our industry both now, and in the future.
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| Thorne Auchter, Washington Representative / Federal Liaison
Thorne brings over 25 years of senior management experience in both public and private sectors. His leadership in private industry opened the door to public service.
He was appointed by President Ronald Reagan and confirmed by the U.S. Senate as the Assistant Secretary of Labor for the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. He later served as the Director of the Institute for Regulatory Policy as well as Executive Vice President of the Associated General Contractors of America.
His creative and innovative approach along with a strong goal orientation and business savvy, has allowed him to consistently achieve tough objectives in highly competitive industries … often under tight time and budgetary constraints.
His hands-on experience and knowledge of government agencies, organizations and legal processes is a real asset to the Fire Recovery team.
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| Lindsay Buchanan, Claims Manager
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| James Robinson, Research Manager
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