April 9, 2020
Vice President of Technology Randy Montelius may have one of the best big-picture views of CEC as it has changed throughout the years.
First joining the team in 1982, he has seen CEC open Iowa offices in Dubuque, Davenport, and Des Moines. He was involved when CEC first began offering security, fire alarm, and structured cabling solutions. And he helped lead the company as it expanded into Wisconsin.
Through the years, he has held positions in field operations, service, sales, management, and engineering. Today, he serves as CEC’s vice president of technology. This role allows him to apply his passion for technology as he helps our employees solve complex business issues for customers. Randy is a member of ASIS International, has served on several technology advisory committees, and has degrees in engineering technology and management development.
Meet Vice President of Technology Randy Montelius!
Q: What makes you most excited about working at CEC? What do you enjoy most?
A: Two things: technology and our people. The technology is always changing, which keeps things exciting – and I’ve established many friendships through CEC.
Q: Is there a CEC initiative you’ve been involved with that you’re especially proud of?
A: It’s currently evolving, but I really like the efforts we’re making toward educating our customers through webinars, articles, blogs, social media, etc. I think it helps position CEC as the technology company we are.
Q: Although there are rarely “typical” days, what’s a typical day like for you? What are you doing behind the scenes to support customers and employees?
A: A lot of my time is focused on educating our customers and sales team on our products. I love it when customers look to CEC to help them determine a solution. That shows the trust they put in us. Those customers want to be partners; they deserve our highest effort.
I’m also involved in education efforts in the community, whether it’s serving as a guest speaker on a webinar, being interviewed for a magazine article, or speaking at an industry event.
Behind the scenes, I spend a fair amount of time on pricing strategy and reviewing contracts.
Q: What’s a fun/interesting fact about you that most people don’t know?
A: I like to build things. Over the years, I’ve sided my house, finished my basement, built a deck, installed windows: I usually always have a project in the works.
Q: How do you spend your free time?
A: When I’m not working on a project, I like to golf and ride bicycles.
Q: If you could do one other job at CEC for a day, what would it be?
A: Probably a service technician. There’s lots of variety, and you get to fix things!
