Where Are They Now?

Armando Olvera’s parents always emphasized the value of a good work ethic. “My parents came from Mexico in the late 1970s,” he said. “They left the country where they grew up, and came to the US with my older sister and older brother. They taught me the true meaning of working hard and accomplishing your goals.”

Now, as the CEO of a successful military contracting company, Olvera is living proof of the lessons his parents taught him.

Olvera graduated from Dublin High School in 2001 and went on to Tarleton, where he studied marketing and worked on the side at FMC. His senior year, he left school and moved to California with a friend to work in sales for the commercial industry with a company called Pinnacle.

After a few years in California the company transferred him to Chicago. In 2007, Olvera decided he wanted to be closer to home, so he moved from Chicago to San Antonio and began working in engineering in the aerospace industry. “I already had the background from my time at FMC, and I thought the job sounded interesting,” he said. “We worked on semiconductor parts and plane parts.”

Olvera enjoyed the job, but in 2021 he was laid off, and he decided to start his own company. “I wanted to take my own job security into my own hands,” he said. “In 2021 I started NXGen Contracting Services Inc., which is a government contracting company. We staff physicians, nurses, medical, nonmedical, administrative services and ancillary services for the US Army, Air Force and Navy.” Military staffing is a niche industry. “Not too many people know about it,” Olvera said. Luckily, he had a friend who had worked in the industry before. His friend showed him the ropes and helped him get a certification as a minority-owned company.

The next year, he purchased another company that provided commissaries — military organizations that sell groceries and other goods to active-duty, Guard, Reserve, and retired members of the armed forces — throughout the US, and merged the two organizations.

“My company’s kind of taken off in the last two years,” he said. “We went from zero to 2.2 million in that timeframe. It kind of blew up.”

Currently, Olvera’s company has four people on staff who coordinate with a wide network of staffers in different fields. In the future, he hopes to team up with other companies who contract services to the government in order to get on a contract vehicle, an arrangement that makes it easier to work with the military.

He plans to continue growing his company, and then sell it at some point and transition into consulting. “I want to help other people get their companies off the ground,” he said.

When he’s not working, Olvera enjoys golfing, hiking and attending concerts. He’s also active in local entrepreneurs groups, where he enjoys meeting other business people and brainstorming together.

Olvera’s parents, Maria and Eloy Olvera, still live in Dublin. The way they have built their life in America has been inspirational to Olvera throughout his life. Olvera grew up taking English as a second language class, and understands the struggle of learning a totally new language and lifestyle. “[My parents taught me] there’s a mindset you can use; don’t let anything get in your way and keep pushing until you reach your goals. That’s always been an inspiration to me.”

Another of Olvera’s inspirations was one of his teachers in Dublin. “My favorite high school teacher was my geometry teacher, Mrs. Lisa Leatherwood,” he said.

Olvera’s advice to Dublin graduates is based on his own experience as an entrepreneur. “If you don’t feel like college is right for you and you want to start a company, go start that company,” he said. “I could have started this company 20 years ago and think where I’d be now. I’d say just do it. Sometimes it’ll work out and sometimes it won’t. But you know what? You’ve got to take the risk.”

Editor’s Note: This column chronicles what Dublin graduates have done since high school. If you have any suggestions for other grads, email publisher@dublincitizen.com.