Five Questions: Josh Cummings

Josh Cummings recently was promoted to director, engineering services, for Minneapolis-based VTI Security. He is charged with engaging and coordinating the engineering activity in all VTI offices. He will report to Rick Allan, chief technology officer, and they will identify best practices, lead VTI's technology decisions and guide the technical training needs for the company. In August, Security Systems News caught up with Josh, who is based in Denver, and asked him five questions:

You're a Colorado native. What do you like about your home state?
I grew up in Westminster, a suburb on the north side of Denver. Colorado is amazing. Everyday when I'm driving there's the whole mountain range, which looks like it's within an arm's reach of where you are. And we have a ton of sunshine. Even when it snows, the sun is out within 24 hours. And it's really moderate in terms of the temperature. There's not a lot of really harsh cold and not a lot of really harsh heat.

What are your hobbies and interests?
I love to camp and go hiking. There are several little mountain towns where we like to go to spend the weekend. There's just kind of a unique atmosphere up there, a really friendly and fun environment. And I have two little girls, 10 and 12, so a lot of time I'm doing family stuff, whether it's sports or whatnot.

Are you a skier?
No, I'm terrible at skiing. It's dangerous if I'm on skis. A lot of time people assume folks from Colorado ski but it's kind of a touristy thing. There are definitely people who live in Colorado who ski but there's a lot of us who don't.

Are you a cat person or a dog person?
I'm a dog person. We have two, a Chihuahua and a miniature Pinscher.

What is something about you that it would surprise others to know?
I don't think most people know that I love to play the guitar and that I do a lot of that in my free time. I play an acoustic guitar.