ABOUT US
Tina Cordova
President, CEO
"I'm proud of the accomplishments we've made as a company. When Russ and I founded Queston in 1990 with $5000.00 in savings I never thought we would achieve so much. We owe a lot to our good employees and I thank God every day for our continued success."
Tina Cordova is a native New Mexican born and raised in the small town of Tularosa. She is president of Queston Construction, Inc. which she founded in 1990 with her partner Russ Steward.
The company is a commercial construction concern with a division devoted to roofing. Queston has completed projects throughout the state of New Mexico for customers such as Los Alamos National Labs, Kirtland Air Force Base, Sandia National Labs, The City of Albuquerque, The State of New Mexico, The Army Corp of Engineers, The Bureau of Indian Affairs, and many other private sector entities.
Tina served on the Board of Directors of the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce for six years and served part of her term as Chairman of the Board. She is a passionate advocate on behalf of Hispanic owned business. Tina currently serves as the President of the Board of Directors of the New Mexico 8(a) and Minority Business Association. In 2009 the New Mexico 8(a) Association co-hosted a very successful Department of Energy Small Business Conference in Long Beach, California. It was the largest DOE Small Business Conference ever held. Tina also serves on the Foundation Board for New Mexico Highlands University, and is the past Chair of The City of Albuquerque Small Business Committee appointed by Mayor Martin Chavez.
Tina has been recognized for her professional efforts and has been awarded Entrepreneur of the Year in New Mexico 1998, Female Small Business Owner by Hispanic Magazine 1998, Woman of Achievement Award 1999, Top 25 Women Owned Businesses in New Mexico 2000 & 2006, SBA New Mexico Small Business Person of the Year 2000, Working Woman Magazine Regional Entrepreneurial Excellence Award 2001, The United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Regional Business Woman of the Year 2001, Top 100 Latinas in the US by Hispanic Magazine, 2003, one of 6 women from across the country honored by the SBA at their 50th Anniversary Celebration, 2003, Outstanding Alumnus for New Mexico Highlands University, 2003 and was chosen to receive the MBDA Minority Construction Contractor of the Year Award for 2007. Under Tinaç—´ leadership Queston has been ranked as one of the largest Women Owned Businesses and one of the largest Roofing contractors in the State of New Mexico by New Mexico Business Weekly for the last six years. Tina was chosen as one of New Mexico's´ 2009 Power Brokers and 2010 Women of Influence by the New Mexico Business Weekly.
Queston Construction Inc. was awarded an Outstanding Innovation Award by Sandia National Laboratories in 2005 for their development of a Tie Off Device (TOD) utilized in fall protection in the construction industry. Engineers at Sandia through the Small Business Assistance Program reviewed the design of the TOD. Queston has acquired a Provisional Patent for the TOD and a Permanent Patent is in process.
Tina has a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Science degree from New Mexico Highlands University where she majored in Biology and minored in Chemistry.
Tina has a son, David, and two grandsons, Demetrius and Marcus, and enjoys spending time with her family as well as being outdoors, camping and fishing.
Russ Steward
Co-owner
After all these years in business, you can't go very far in any direction from our office without running into a project that we weren't part of. We've worked on projects all over the State and I am always proud of the work we've done.
David Montoya
Commercial Sales / Estimating
This is the family business that I grew up in. It's always my goal to do the best that I can to sell work and make certain that we are competitive. If we take care of the customers they call us again and again.

AWARDS & SPECIAL RECOGNITION

2012 New Mexico Business Weekly
Queston Construction, Inc. was listed as one of Top Roofing Contractors in New Mexico.

2012 New Mexico Business Weekly
Queston Construction, Inc. was listed as one of Largest Hispanic Owned Businesses in New Mexico.

2012 New Mexico Business Weekly
Queston Construction, Inc. was listed as one of Largest Woman Owned Businesses in New Mexico.

2011 New Mexico Business Weekly
Queston Construction, Inc. was listed as one of Top Roofing Contractors in New Mexico.

2011 New Mexico Business Weekly
Queston Construction, Inc. was listed as one of Largest Hispanic Owned Businesses in New Mexico.

2011 New Mexico Business Weekly
Queston Construction, Inc. was listed as one of Largest Woman Owned Businesses in New Mexico.

2010 New Mexico Business Weekly
Tina Cordova, President, Queston Construction, Inc. was listed as one of the “Women of Influence” in New Mexico.

Awards & Media Mentions

Albuquerque Small Business Development Center Names Outstanding Entrepreneurs
Albuquerque's two Small Business Development Centers (SBDC), both affiliated with Central New Mexico Community College, have named their outstanding clients of the year. The clients, honored in a special ceremony at the State Capitol, are Tina Cordova and Russ Steward of Queston Construction, named by the Albuquerque SBDC.
TINA CORDOVA AND RUSS STEWARD OF QUESTON CONSTRUCTION
In April 1990, Tina Cordova and Russ Steward went to the Central New Mexico College Small Business Development Center in Albuquerque seeking assistance in writing a business plan and partnership agreement for a construction and roofing company. Soon, with the help of the SBDC staff, Queston Construction, Inc. was founded, and thus began a business relationship with the SBDC that has continued to grow for almost 20 years.

The Albuquerque SBDC helped Ms. Cordova and Mr. Steward develop methods for keeping track of their business, market it, and make contracts with customers, all without having to hire costly experts. Ms. Cordova recalls when she just needed a place where I could use a computer for creating marketing materials and setting up our accounting systems. The SBDC turned out to be that place, and she also found a competent, helpful staff to assist her.

Queston Construction has grown steadily, and now employs 25 people. Ms. Cordova and Mr. Steward are now able to afford the experts they could not pay in the beginning. Their company has won numerous awards and honors and has been featured in newspapers and magazines. Tina Cordova was named the U.S. Small Business Administration Small Business Person of the Year for New Mexico in 2000. The Center for Entrepreneurship named her Entrepreneur of the Year in the construction category for 1998 after the Albuquerque SBDC nominated her for that honor. In 2007, Queston Construction received the U.S. Department of Commerce award for Regional Minority Construction Firm of the Year.

Ms. Cordova believes strongly in the importance of the SBDC to her business success: I am a big proponent of the SBDC because the services they provide are vital to small businesses that are just starting out. When people ask me about how I started, I always mention the SBDC because the help I received was invaluable. They have expert staff who are ready, willing and able to assist businesses in all stages of development.

Ms. Cordova would recommend the SBDC to other businesses seeking assistance in planning and marketing, tax planning, accounting and financing. Ms. Cordova also states, I have great relationships that formed through my association with the SBDC. I am very fortunate to have received the assistance, but more importantly, the relationships that have developed mean the world to me.

New York Times: To Get Ahead, Own the Store

By REGAN MORRIS
Published: November 18, 2004
New York Times
Hispanic women are opening businesses at a rate far higher than the national average, a new study shows. To Tina Cordova, a Hispanic entrepreneur, the reason is obvious: economic desperation. While white women in the work force make about 77 cents to every dollar earned by white men, according to data from the 2000 census, Hispanic women are paid 53 cents.
With numbers like that, Ms. Cordova, 45, the president, majority shareholder and chief executive of Queston Construction Inc. in Albuquerque, said it was no wonder that so many Hispanic and other minority women take the plunge into entrepreneurship.
When she started her company in 1990 with $5,000 in savings, Ms. Cordova figured she had nothing to lose. After all, she said, if she failed she could always go back to her previous jobs as a waitress and a restaurant manager.
Many other minority women have made similar decisions to start businesses. Between 1997 and 2004, the number of firms owned by Hispanic women increased by nearly 64 percent, to 553,600, and their combined revenue climbed by more than 62 percent, to $44.4 billion, according to a study by the Center for Women's Business Research that was released Tuesday.

IN MEMORIAM

On January 3, 2008 one of Queston's most valued employees, Stephen Bennett, passed away from this life to eternal life. Not only was Stephen one of the companies most valued employees, he was also Nephew to the owners Tina Cordova and Russ Steward, Grandson to Rosalie Cordova and cousin to David Montoya and Louis Vigil all who work at Queston.
To say that we were devastated by his passing is an understatement. Queston will never be able to replace Stephen in our personal or work lives. Stephen had worked at Queston for 8 years starting when he was in High School. As a child he accompanied his Grandpa Tacho Cordova on estimates and eventually took over when his Grandpa retired. At the time of his passing, Stephen was in charge of the entire residential part of the business. He had accomplished a great deal in his 23 short years.
Stephen was undoubtedly one of the best salesmen we've ever encountered. Queston received numerous calls upon his passing from his customers expressing their regrets and condolences. Many of them told us that they chose Queston because of Stephen's abilities.Stephen's co-workers have missed his optimism, his willingness to assist, his gentle kindness, his cheerful attitude, his sense of humor and his infectious smile. Stephen had an incredibly generous heart and his greatest joy was in helping others. The history of this company can not be told without mentioning Stephen's contributions.All of us at Queston will be eternally indebted to Stephen for his hard work and dedication. He was a significant part of the company's success.We pray that our dear Stephen rests in peace never to be forgotten, forever young, forever loved.
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