President, Founder (Ret.)
Great Southwestern Construction, Inc.

Robert A. Martinez was born in Raton, New Mexico and grew up in Albuquerque and Springer, New Mexico. He lived in Castle Rock, Colorado with his wife Sharon and had four children, Courtney, Robert Travis, Alyson and Jessica, but now lives in Palisade, Colorado. He is a graduate of New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, New Mexico, where he received a Bachelor’s of Business Administration Degree and a Master’s of Arts Degree in Economics.

Robert is the former President and Founder of Great Southwestern Construction, Inc. He started this construction business in 1977, a Licensed General Contractor in the State of New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, Oregon, Louisiana, Washington and a Licensed General Engineering Contractor in the State of California and Hawaii. The company specialized in High Voltage Transmission Line, Distribution lines and Substation construction serving Public Utilities companies, Investor-Owned Utilities, Rural Electric Cooperatives, the Western Area Power Administration and Bonneville Power Administration. A noted major accomplishment of the company was the installation of all power and fiber optic cable and supervisory control system for the Central Arizona Project which brought life giving water from the Colorado River to the Phoenix and Tucson areas. He sold the company in 2000 to the MYR Group in Chicago, Ill (a publicly traded company NASDAQ). He stayed with the company until 2002 to assure the continued smooth transition of operations. The company continues to thrive and is now recognized as a leader in the industry. He is an investor, advisor and advocate for a company known as Lucky Corridor, LLC which is developing transmission line facilities for the wind, solar and other renewable and sustainable energy sources in northern New Mexico. This LLC was recently acquired by Ameren a major developer in renewable energy projects. He and his family have invested in the wine business in Colorado and New Mexico having a vineyard and winery in Mesilla, New Mexico called the Rio Grande Winery and a winery in Palisade, Colorado, called the Colorado Vintner. Both endeavors are intended to promote the history, culture, variety and quality of the wines of these states.

He served in the United States Army on active duty from 1967 to 1970 then in the U.S. Army Reserves until 1978. He attained the rank of Captain and held such positions as Battalion Adjutant, Psychological Operations Officer, Company Commander, Executive Officer and Training Officer. During his military service he was awarded the Bronze Star Medal, Vietnam Campaign Ribbon, Vietnam Honor Medal awarded by South Vietnamese Government, National Defense Award, and Vietnam Service Medal. He resigned from the U S. Army Reserves in 1978 to start his business.