Ample Electric earned the designation of the SBA’s (Small Business Association) 2023 Small Business of the Year Award for the Sacramento region. Regardless of an organization’s size, Ample Electric proves that small businesses can accomplish big things.
This award-winning business, however, was just a seedling back in 2005 when founder Jose Diaz began his electrical career as an apprentice with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW). From there, Diaz partnered with Spears Electric in 2009 and eventually purchased the company in 2011. It was rebranded as Ample Electric, and the rest is history.
“Jose was the president and CEO straight from the get-go when Ample Electric was founded. It’s minority-owned and registered as a small business as well,” said Lead Project Manager Katie Reineck. “Jose’s portfolio for the company is — let’s say — pretty extensive. He is doing a lot of public works and federal government work along with a lot of agriculture work. We also do commercial and some residential. So, a little bit of everything.”
Essentially, Ample Electric itself is an electrical contractor that facilitates a litany of services. As broken down by Reineck, the small business can provide design/build services from cradle to grave. It also specializes in electrical power distribution, electrical vehicle charging stations, good old-fashioned electrical maintenance, troubleshooting and much more. Ample Electric just finished off a job up at Lake Berryessa where it rehabbed the electrical infrastructure damaged by the LNU fire. One can see it as another job, or another reason, why Ample Electric is the 2023 Small Business of the Year.
“It all happened really fast. We found out we’d won the award in late April, and the awards banquet
was two weeks after that. So, this is all very fresh. There were three congressional districts — one being Mike Thompson’s office — that gave us certificates acknowledging us which was cool. Just winning this is a huge accomplishment,” said Reineck. “The award comes from the SBA Sacramento Region which is made up of 22 counties. So, this little electrical company in Winters won out of 22 counties of all small businesses, not just electrical and construction. I would say there are thousands of small businesses we were up against.”
To win this award, a business must be nominated. To be nominated, a business has to be doing something right. For Ample Electric, that ‘something right’ has been top-tier customer service paired with unwavering dependability in the services it provides.
“I feel like we’re able to give our clients the utmost quality. Jose is totally boots-on-the-ground and hands-on. He babies every project and makes sure every aspect is quality. I mean, he puts his name on it and we have clientele that’s been with us for over a decade because they know Jose is reliable and his work is excellent,” explained Reineck. “It’s also our customer service and past performance of work. What we’ve done in the past builds our portfolio of what we can do in the future. Ample Electric is also super involved in the community. We’re doing a golf tournament soon as a fundraiser for the WHS sports boosters. We like to do the community give-backs as well. Jose and I did (the) Career Day at the high school a month ago. He used to volunteer our guys’ time to do the Christmas lights downtown. To Jose, community involvement is huge. It’s about giving back our profits and building a better community.”
