EL PASO, Texas (KTSM) — Ana Espinoza, president of Access Communcations Group (ACG), shares her key to success and how the company has evolved over the years.
ACG is an LLC company that provides services such as construction, telecommunications, structured cabling, audio visual solutions, roofing, and other services for federal and local customers.
ACG currently has locations in El Paso, Texas, Anthony, New Mexico, and Tucson, Arizona. However, the company’s main office resides in El Paso.
ACG was founded by Espinoza’s husband, Mark Dittmar in 1996, where he initially saw the need for computers and telecommunications in various areas.
“So, he took the time to get acquainted, adding cabling, copper, fiberoptics and the variety of services the business provided started to increase,” said Espinoza.
Espinoza joined the business in 2014 and together with Dittmar, they began to restructure the company.
As the president, Espinoza spends her majority of time in the main office, where she works with customers, contractors, and employees.
Espinoza says she’s in charge of daily operations, making sure profit is meeting government compliance and also provides quality support.
“I’m very project oriented, task oriented, that’s probably my primary role, supporting different efforts and making sure things are happening as required.”
Espinoza also has 16 years of experience in manufacturing, specifically at Leviton, and uses her experience to utilize at ACG.
Espinoza also has a bachelor’s degree in computer science from the University of Chihuahua, where she learned the physical aspect of computers.
Espinoza is from Jiménez, a small town located in the state of Chihuahua. She describes the town not having a lot of pavement, but to her, it didn’t matter.
“There was not a lot of streets that were paved, which who cares, because we could still play and do everything and anything outside. Freedom was my biggest thing.”
Espinoza says both of her parents came from poor families and were both major supporters for both families.
“I really admire them, for that I’m never going to be able to thank them enough because that was what motivated me to do things as best as possible.”
Espinoza also shares her experience in elementary school, stating that she had to work twice as hard as the other children in order to succeed.
“I’m not smart, I’m not intelligent, I don’t have good memory, but I knew I needed to put a lot of effort studying probably two or three times more if I wanted to be the best, and that’s what I did. I wouldn’t say I can brag about it but that’s what got me here…”
In 2016, Espinoza and Dittmar started to work more diligently in getting certifications in order to conduct work for the federal government, and ended up getting their first certification, 8 (a), which is a federal contracting and training program that helps small businesses that are owned and controlled by socially and economically disadvantaged individuals compete for federal contracting opportunities, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration.
From there, the couple was able to land different projects and learned more from various military bases in the nation, including Fort Bliss. They also were able to get a partnership with Crestron, specifically investing in audio video solutions.
ACG was then able to provide services for El Paso Community College and remodeled 40 different classrooms within five different campuses across El Paso.
In 2018, ACG started to provide electrical roofing services and migrated from telecommunications to telecom construction, where they managed to land projects, including with Canon Air Force.
From 2019 to 2021, ACG received several certifications such as HUBZone, which is a program that helps small businesses in urban and rural communities gain preferential access to federal procurement opportunities, according to the U.S. Business Registration.
Another certification ACG received was the Economically Disadvantaged Women-Owned Small Business certification, which is a certification that defines a business as being owned, operated, and controlled by women, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration.
ACG also received the Federal Supply Schedule and Multiple Award Schedule certification, which is a long-term governmentwide contract with commercial companies that provide access to millions of commercial products and services at fair and reasonable prices to the government, according to the U.S. General Services Administration.
Aside from gaining several certifications, ACG was also able to land multiple contracts in telecommunications and construction. ACG was also able to land contracts with plenty of corporations and organizations such as Joint Venture, the Hospitals of Providence, UTEP, the U.S. Air Force, the Armed Forces Bank, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the Chamizal National Park.
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