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It was October of 1994 when a friend and office manager asked Espa帽ola resident Eric Quintana if he knew any businesses that could clean their office.

With December quickly approaching and his two sons wanting a Bigfoot electric truck for Christmas, Quintana ecstatically told his friend, 鈥淚鈥檒l do it!鈥�

Not long after, Quintana, with the help of his wife, Celina, founded Performance Maintenance Inc., also known as PMI. It started as a small local cleaning business, and now, it鈥檚 a full-service building maintenance and supplier operation going on nearly 32 years.

The business 鈥� still family owned and based in Espa帽ola, where Quintana was born and raised 鈥� has established a presence throughout northern New Mexico, with locations also in Santa Fe and Los Alamos.

PMI recently hired a worker to explore an expansion into the sa国际传媒官网网页入口 area, and the organization has a new 20,000-square-foot distribution center in the works for Espa帽ola.

All of this growth recently earned Quintana the Small Business Administration鈥檚 New Mexico Small Business Person of the Year award. He was recognized for the accolade at SBA New Mexico鈥檚 district ceremony in sa国际传媒官网网页入口 and the U.S. SBA鈥檚 National Small Business Week ceremony in Washington, D.C., in May.

鈥淓ric and his family are hardworking, community-minded leaders who treat employees and customers with the utmost respect,鈥� said New Mexico Small Business Development Center Director Julianna Martinez-Barbee. 鈥淔or over 20 years that I have been assisting them, they 鈥� continue to create opportunities that help people support their families.鈥�

Quintana said the recognition 鈥渕eant a lot鈥� and that it couldn鈥檛 have come without his employees and wife, who is no longer involved in the day-to-day operations but still helps the family make major business decisions.

He said the achievement also marked a special moment for his two sons, Daven and Eric Jr., who are working for PMI as its chief operating and chief financial officers, respectively.

鈥淚'm getting near retirement age,鈥� said Quintana, 64, who started the business in his 30s. 鈥淢y boys being in the business and poised to take over, (this recognition) kind of gave me the feeling of assurance that I'm passing something to them that has got a sure footing.鈥�

Daven Quintana said he feels 鈥渧ery privileged鈥� to be a part of the business his parents created, adding, 鈥淭hese kinds of companies don鈥檛 come around every day.鈥� He said he is also proud of the SBA鈥檚 award and said it is proof that his parents were right when they told him and his brother at a young age that the hard work 鈥� working weekends, nights and several jobs, and refinancing their home 鈥� would pay off.

When Eric Quintana started the business, it was just him, his wife and the occasional helping hand from his parents. The boys would often join them on the job, tasked with the duties of holding cords or cleaning up after playing with the office鈥檚 kids鈥� toys.

Daven Quintana remembers when someone from the office asked his father if his business cleaned carpets, and his father said, 鈥測es.鈥� Daven Quintana overheard, and being a young boy thinking his father was telling a fib, bluntly chimed in to say, 鈥淵ou don鈥檛 do carpets.鈥�

Daven Quintana said his father later told him, 鈥淵ou鈥檝e got to say yes to any opportunity and just show up and give 100%.鈥�

PMI was strictly a service provider until about two years in, when clients started asking if they also sold cleaning supplies. With most of the supplies coming from sa国际传媒官网网页入口, Eric Quintana decided to make PMI both a service provider and supplier 鈥� something he said is rare within the industry. Hence, the business鈥� slogan: 鈥淥ne call does it all.鈥�

Today, PMI employs more than 200 people. The business provides janitorial services, specialty deep cleaning, laundry services, sustainable cleaning products and full facility upkeep for hundreds of clients, including households, hospitals, schools, museums, governments, local businesses and major institutions. Its online store ships PMI鈥檚 products nationwide.

Some of PMI鈥檚 local clients include the Georgia O鈥橩eeffe Museum, Ghost Ranch, Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad and Meow Wolf. But one of its largest clients is Los Alamos National Laboratory, where more than half of PMI鈥檚 employees spend their time.

PMI secured a five-year subcontract worth $52 million to provide janitorial services and supplies to LANL in 2019, and then contracts structured for up to 10 years with a total potential value surpassing $152 million last year.

Eric Quintana said his involvement with the SBA since 1997 played a major role in helping secure the LANL partnership.

鈥淚 took a lot of their advice, attended a lot of their meetings and paid attention. When my wife and I were in the trenches having to obtain insurances and workers鈥� compensation and all those things, the local SBA helped us and saved us,鈥� Eric Quintana said, adding the local office helped PMI put together complex packages required by government contracts free of charge.

鈥淚 put my name in the hat and kept it there for years until (LANL) recognized us and saw we were doing good things,鈥� he added.

Something Eric Quintana believes grabbed LANL鈥檚 attention was PMI鈥檚 history of investing in green cleaning technologies and their own line of green products.

As health and environmental consciousness grow among consumers and forever chemicals 鈥� human-made chemicals that are hard to break down and can be found in cleaning supplies 鈥� continue to pose health concerns for the public, Eric Quintana said he and his wife felt it was important to stay on top of the issue. Safe products are especially essential for employees handling lots of products in big spaces like LANL, which offers PMI a more than 5-million-square-foot cleaning job.

鈥淔or 15 years, my wife and I did the cleaning and the waxing and stripping the floors, so our feet and hands were always in the product, and the stuff that was out there initially was toxic,鈥� Eric Quintana said.

PMI鈥檚 supplier side is the fastest-growing sector of the business, which Eric Quintana attributes to the fact that PMI also uses the products they sell, so they know firsthand what works and what doesn鈥檛. Because the business does both, Eric Quintana said the business has also been able to add workforce development to its portfolio, offering training to clients who purchase PMI鈥檚 supplies.

鈥淚 really love to be a job provider here in northern New Mexico,鈥� Eric Quintana said.

PMI鈥檚 incoming Espa帽ola distribution facility 鈥� a new construction currently in the permitting phase and slated to operate in a year and a half 鈥� will bring jobs to the area. 鈥淚 take pride in that,鈥� he said.

Being a small business owner hasn鈥檛 been easy, Eric Quintana said. But what it has offered is what he described as 鈥渇reedom鈥� 鈥� and yes, a Bigfoot electric truck beside the Christmas tree.

The key, he said, for a small business owner to reach those take-a-breath moments: 鈥淒on鈥檛 sit and wait for people to come to you. You go out and find what it takes to sustain your business.鈥�

Kylie Garcia covers retail and real estate for the Journal. You can reach her at kgarcia@abqjournal.com.