When William “Bill” Ziegert, retired recently as Smoke Guard president and general manager, the company’s business leaders chose Boise State EMBA alumnus Curtis Gonzales as Ziegert’s successor and asked him to take on an even larger role and as CEO. In this role Gonzales has led enormous amounts of change for both his leadership team and the company as a whole. “We [have been] in a growth transition from a one product garage-type company to a sophisticated market leader with a large portfolio of products servicing Passive Smoke & Fire Protection Industry.”
Gonzales’ knowledge and experience in implementing change were reinforced and strengthened while attending the Boise State Executive MBA Program.
“EMBA taught me the importance of maintaining our customer intimacy as a competitive advantage though these changes,” Gonzales shares. “EMBA also taught me many things fundamental to business success; finance, economics, marketing, and creating a winning strategy. Luckily, I am not in this alone. I get great support from my team and reaching out to my EMBA network.”