Baca Valley Telephone Company, Inc.
History ...
Baca Valley Telephone Company,
Inc., headquartered in Des Moines, New Mexico, was founded by Paul J. Briesh,
Sr. who began his career in the telephone industry with Western States
Telephone Company in 1962.
In 1973, Paul started
negotiations with Mountain Bell to acquire the Laughlin Telephone Cooperative,
located in Capulin, New Mexico. The Co-op consisted of forty-five subscribers,
a Magneto Switch, and nearly 100 miles of open wire.
The purchase was finalized and
the new company was incorporated under the name of Baca Valley Telephone Company,
Inc. on February 4, 1974. In 1975, Paul negotiated the purchase of the Mountain
Bell Central Office Switch in Des Moines, New Mexico.
The sale was approved and the
Briesh family moved from Arizona to Des Moines. During the next three years,
the Briesh family spent many hours maintaining the old switches and lines while
working to obtain an REA loan. Their goal was to expand the company's customer
base in northeastern New Mexico.
The Briesh boys drove to Utah and tore down ten miles of aerial cable. They rolled it onto empty reels, drove back to Des Moines and then re-hung it on an existing openwire toll line from Des Moines to Capulin. With this cable installed, Capulin and Des Moines residents were able to enjoy two or four party dial service.
Paul Sr. died suddenly of a heart attack on August 7, 1979. With the help of their friends and the assistance of the telephone engineers and employees who had worked for Paul Sr., the Briesh family managed to keep the company together. The REA loan was approved in November, 1979, and that Fall Baca Valley Telephone Company purchased Maxwell Telephone Company.
With the REA loan in hand, the company proceeded with the building of a new headquarters facility, burying hundreds of miles of cable and installing two new switches in Des Moines and Maxwell.
Today, Baca Valley Telephone
Company has a service area covering more than 2,600 square miles. In addition
to residential service in the Des Moines and Maxwell exchanges, they provide
cellular service, local Internet access, business telephone systems, security
systems, and network cabling throughout northeastern New Mexico and
southeastern Colorado.
|
Annelle E. Briesh |
President |
|
Paul J. Briesh, Jr. |
Vice-President |
|
Katherine R. Ring |
Sec/Treas |
|
Sheryl A. Hume |
Director |
|
Paul Briesh, Jr. |
General Manager |
02/04/1974 |
|
|
Peggy Briesh |
Director of Administrative Services |
09/02/1980 |
|
|
Ron Green |
Senior Communications Tech |
11/06/1980 |
|
|
Rick Phillips |
Outside Plant Technician |
06/26/1990 |
|
|
Pam Sorensen |
Senior NOC Technician |
11/07/1988 |
|
|
M. Lucia Lopez |
NOC Technician |
08/11/2003 |
|
|
Helene Burmeister |
Veriforce Tech |
06/15/2004 |
|
Priscilla Escobedo |
NOC Technician |
07/28/2010 |
|
|
Rhonda L. Raimondi |
NOC Technician |
09/08/2003 |
|
|
Martin Muse |
NOC Technician |
10/07/2010 |
|
|
Jennifer Pflum |
NOC Technician |
06/28/2008
|
|
| Sarra Lopez | NOC Technician | 02/02/2010 | sarrabvt@bacavalley.com |
|
Ken Parsons |
Central Office Technician |
10/12/1994 |
|
|
Karen Brown |
Marketing/Special Projects |
04/15/1996 |
|
|
Kim Atwater |
Information Systems Technician |
05/28/1999 |
|
|
Brad Atwater |
Business System Technician |
07/01/1996 |
|
|
Scott Warner |
Business System Technician
|
06/11/2007 |
|
|
Zach Osborn |
Business System Technician
|
05/03/2007 |
|
Scotty Burmeister
|
Outside Plant Technician |
04/28/2009
|
|
| Brad Doherty | Information Systems Tech | 03/23/2009 | bdohertybvt@bacavalley.com |
| Jonathan Sova | Radio Technician | 05/28/2009 | jonathanbvt@bacavalley.com |
|
Barb Trujillo |
Billing Specialist |
08/19/1996 |
|
|
Tami Stogsdill |
Maintenance / Purchasing |
08/07/1995 |
|
|
Ann Flaming |
Accounting Technician
|
06/06/2007 |
|
|
Cindy Kennedy |
Accounting Technician
|
07/17/2007 |
|
|
Pennie Brown |
Customer Service Representative |
08/15/2005 |
|
|
Annie Kennedy |
Customer Service Representative
|
03/10/2008 |
|
|
Stephanie Taylor |
Administrative Assistant |
08/01/1995 |
|
| Reon McBride | Special Project Tech | 06/02/2010 | reonbvt@bacavalley.com |
|
Cindy Fernandez |
Maxwell Housekeeping |
11/05/1990 |
|
| Vicki Thompson | Des Moines Housekeeping | 04/11/2010 | |
| Jennifer Flemming | Des Moines Housekeeping | 09/11/2009 |