By Bill Adams
Old people don’t lie – all the time. We’ll stretch the truth a bit and some facts a little bit more, but we’re not always deceitful. Old age makes us forget stuff. I’ve been out of the fire service long enough to justify occasionally forgetting things. When writing, I’ll ask Raisin Squad members or old-timers still active in the fire truck world to review articles so I don’t inadvertently step on any toes. It doesn’t always happen because I often forget to send them the articles. Nobody reviewed this column. It’s a one-on-one interview. Sam talked so much, I had to cut it in half.
It is a continuation of why Sam Massa entered the warning light market. As previously mentioned, Sam is rather long-winded in his responses. He’s like some older people. Ask them a question and they’re off-to-the races on a semi-related subject before finally answering.
Sam’s a self-educated, forward-looking entrepreneur who owns and operates a successful company called Hi-Viz Lighting, Incorporated. I let him wander off the reservation a little bit when answering. Why? Knowing how the apparatus lighting market works; how competitors interface and Sam’s work ethic is interesting. What makes him tick?
- What is FireTech? “FireTech is a brand name owned by Hi-Viz. It focuses solely on lighting in the public safety sector (fire, police and EMS).”
- What is Hi-Viz? “It is a formal corporation, a parent company that will add other brands as we continue to grow. In addition to the FireTech brand, HiViz owns a multimedia division, a podcast division, and a division which markets key electrical components to OEM manufacturers that create goods tangential to our FireTech brand.”
- Are you the sole-owner of Hi-Viz? “The great thing about being a privately-held business is we don’t have to disclose our financials publicly. That said, I do own the controlling interest in the business.”
- What’s your position in the food chain? “I’m the founder, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and presently fill the role of Chief Technical Officer (CTO) for Hi-Viz. As CEO, I determine the business’s strategic direction; lead advisory board meetings; head the leadership team; and negotiate relationships with key partner companies and executives around the space. I’m also the multimedia face of the organization.” (Space is a “hip” word for marketplace.)
- How many employees do you have? “Are you talking about people who ‘work’ for a company or those who are actual W2 employees? Numbers can be deceiving when taken out of context. Companies might state a large employee number for bragging purposes. Small businesses, particularly in their start-up phases, have contract employees such as a sales force, engineering, payroll and accounting functions; as well as contracted warehousing. Even large corporations have contract employees for specific projects. Most will not divulge actual W2 employee numbers. A while back, Hi-Viz had four people. Today, we have about 30 full-timers – all W2’s. Some folks focus on various segments and markets, but all our W2 employees work for Hi-Viz. My business philosophy was focused on keeping infrastructure and operating costs low so we could choose projects to invest in and be self-funding the first years of the business before needing to raise outside capitol. The strategy of leveraging contractors and third parties allowed us to operate super nimbly and focus on our strengths. We called it being ‘lighter than air’, which was a unique model but allowed us great focus. We now own our facilities, our fleet of demo vehicles, all of the IP for our various products and systems and the tooling for all of our products. Our team has grown considerably on that solid foundation. I could be deceptive and say we have about 150 employees wearing our logos on their shirts and working under our sign on the building. Let my competitors guess if they technically work for Hi-Viz or for a contractor/supplier and extremely close partner!”
- Is Hi-Viz a manufacturer or an assembler of lights? Sam said that’s an excellent question then rambled on for an eternity. I’ve abbreviated it: “Many, if not all, of the finished automotive lighting products manufactured in the United States include some out-sourced parts and pieces – warning lights included. Hi-Viz manufactures product in-house and has a robust supply chain of companies from all over the world. That being said, Hi-Viz has two facilities (9,600 square feet and 12,000 square feet) in Hendersonville, North Carolina for its corporate, design and engineering offices as well as manufacturing and warehousing.” He noted it is imperative to have close working relationships with component part suppliers that are well versed in the technology, requirements and stringent standards of the public safety lighting market.
- Are you still in the FD and an EMT? “Some people go golfing to decompress. I like working on ambulances doing a couple of night shifts per month with the Haywood County EMS and also volunteer at Mills River Fire Rescue. Fighting fires serves people but in EMS you serve a lot more. You can’t smile a house fire out, but sometimes even smiling can make someone feel better.”
- You’ve been successful in educating the fire service and marketing LED scene and various auxiliary lighting. Why enter the competitive warning light market? “Our scene lighting technology changed the way first responders did their jobs after dark. It fulfilled a technical customer need. I rode with many fire departments that showed me how they work after dark. We built a team that, for 10 years, laser-focused our technical product offerings on that one area. We utilized the expertise of the partners I was working with at the time. Our FireTech Brow Light gained almost 60% market adoption over five years in an industry where change is about as taboo as passing gas in an elevator. Around 2017, competitive manufacturers began changing their tune. One, a market share leader in fire apparatus lighting, introduced a similar brow light. There’s almost nothing I love more than competition. We followed it with our headlights and the FireTech Guardian Scene Light range.”
- Sam, PLEASE get back to why you got into warning lights. “Everyone kept asking if I was going to start building warning lights. I told them I had no plans to. Other companies were already doing a great job with that technology. Hi-Viz was focused on helping firefighters to see and not be seen. When I became involved in the NFPA technical committee getting ready for the revision process on the 1901 standard, one manufacturer began advancing nighttime warning lighting modes. I was surprised at how expensive and complicated it would be to implement that technology. For years, the warning lighting game consisted of choosing colors, flash pattern, and quantity. Power it up; synchronize it if you want, and send it down the road. More is better. It was simple. Industry discussions about future technology centered around one manufacturer’s supposition that more light was ‘bad’ causing motorists to crash into parked emergency vehicles. I agreed some emergency vehicles lights were sometimes too bright but wasn’t convinced that ‘less light’ meant fewer collisions. My interpretation of the unbiased evidence pointed to alcohol consumption and the increase in buttonless smartphone use as the two primary contributors to the increase in collisions with emergency vehicles. There was a reset of the process, and the NFPA revision cycle was restarted. Proposed changes to nighttime lighting modes were delayed, giving other innovators time to think about the ramifications and analyze any problems created with this emerging technology. How can we make lighting systems smarter? How can we communicate better with the motoring public? During this NFPA standards timeline realignment, several new lighting manufacturers began introducing their versions of ‘smart’ warning light systems. Connected and autonomous vehicle manufacturers around the industry began popping up, and the first electric fire apparatus were released in the North American market. Warning technology was changing, and the market was ready for a new player that wasn’t going to push them around. The time to strike was while the industry was becoming disrupted by this new conversation.”
- Sam – speed it up please – just give six reasons why! “OK.
- HiViz didn’t have anything to lose by entering the warning light market.
- We had a 0% market share of this segment to protect.
- We had a front-row seat to the discussions that were occurring industry-wide about reducing collisions with emergency vehicles.
- We had a growing team of staff engineers that were supported by our stable business in the white-lighting space. (White lighting is Sam’s words for scene lights, headlights, etc.)
- We didn’t have any bad habits to un-learn, and virtually no tech debt to clean up.
- We had the support of a loyal customer base grown over 10 years asking us to build warning lights. Between 2018 and 2023, my spare time was spent researching warning-light technology and building a team that could transition us from a legacy hardware manufacturer to a technology company. We hired about two dozen people from all over the world to move to North Carolina to work on this initiative. They’re W2 folks – not contract employees. We drafted ideas and developed a list of features. Our warning lights had to be smart, less complicated than competitors, and as reliable as all FireTech products. Hardware and software were repeatedly updated as we learned more about the psychology of motorists interacting with emergency vehicles. The goal was to keep firefighters safe. One lesson learned in the fire academy was to have a plan, a back-up plan and a back-up to the back-up. And keep revising them.”
- Sam – please end it with words of wisdom for warning light purchasers. “Stay away from the junk. The emergency services warning light market is the smallest, most complicated and highly regulated of all vehicle lighting. Manufacturers supplying product for off-road, commercial, mining and marine markets may attempt selling lights to the public safety segment. Apparatus manufacturers usually stay away from low-quality garbage. The half dozen or so reputable domestic warning light manufacturers generally make quality product. I can’t throw a rock at them. I enjoy honest competition.”
What has to be scary to his competitors is he loves what he’s doing. He seems to be having too good of a time.
***
Sam tried explaining why FireTech warning lights are the best creation since the wheel. I stopped him. I told his story why he got into the warning light market. He can sell his own lights. FireTech’s website is https://hivizleds.com/ and the phone number is (703) 662-3458.
BILL ADAMS is a member of the Fire Apparatus & Emergency Equipment Editorial Advisory Board, a former fire apparatus salesman, and a past chief of the East Rochester (NY) Fire Department. He has 50 years of experience in the volunteer fire service.
