STORY AND PHOTOS BY DAVID SCOTT
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One man’s vision and hard work has turned Americom into the successful business that it is today. That man being the President of the company, Jeff Rodgers. “This is what I had envisioned and wanted to be since my early twenties,” Jeff recalls. Jeff founded Americom in October ’95 at the main office in Bartow. Originally he was a one man show at the office. He did all of the sales, phone repair, and customer service. Anytime he would have to leave the office, he would forward all calls to his cell phone and put a note on the door stating what time he would be returning. His cell phone was on 24-7, even while charging, so he was always available to be reached by customers. Jeff was not alone in this endeavor. Rob Kincart, business owner of American Compliance Technologies, knew of Jeff’s business prowess through his work with G.T.E. and encouraged Jeff by becoming his silent partner.

From the beginning Americom achieved success by being the top sales agent in the Polk County region. This is contributed to having a reputation for hands on sales and service. Four of the past five years they have earned the Nextel National Dealer Award (Platinum Partners Award), and are on target to receive it again this year. In the fall of 1998, Americom became the first agent to partner with Nextel Communications in the area. In that same year they opened their second retail operation location in North Lakeland. In November 2001 they opened their third retail location in Winter Haven. From January thru June 2004 they opened three new locations outside of Polk County, those being in Brandon, Bradenton, and Sarasota. Most recently, on August 1st of this year they opened a retail location in Port Charlotte. So in ten years Americom has grown from one man at one location to seven locations, thirty employees, and a customer base of over 38,000.

Americom has two types of customers, individuals who use their cell phones for basic communication and the business customer who use their phones for increased profitability. They have a complete team to focus on business to business sales. Outside sales representatives will visit your business and complete a corporate needs analysis for your company. Americom knows what you need for communication because they use it everyday to operate their business.

Jeff traveled through south Florida after Andrew hit in 1992 and had an idea for an emergency response vehicle for the company. In 2004 he put his idea to work and purchased a thirty three foot R.V. and a utility trailer for the hurricane recovery efforts after hurricane Charlie. During the recovery efforts Americom spent about five weeks in Port Charlotte. Amerciom logged over 1000 hours in disaster relief in the Punta Gorda and Vero Beach areas. They used the R.V. as a base camp for storage and sleeping while they used the utility trailer for transporting and distributing much needed communication equipment into the most needed areas. Americom provided many of the police, ambulance, military, and the rest of the first responders free phone equipment to help them get their jobs done. They also helped many of the first responders get priority access lines.

Americom is a strong supporter of community service organizations including the March of Dimes, SPCA, Lake Mirror Classic, American Cancer Society, North Lakeland Little League, East Polk Committee of 100, Winter Haven Chamber Business Development Committee, and generous supporter of several Polk County schools. They also sponsor the rodeo held every Saturday at Westgate River Ranch as well as the Americom Pro Rodeo Classic held in January at the Lakeland Center.

Currently Americom is looking at future acquisition of two locations in adjacent markets. They are also going to begin construction on their new building in Winter Haven. This location on Ave. G.S.W. will be a 7,000 square foot retail shopping center. They will be moving from their current location on 6th St., S.W. into this new building. They plan on occupying 2,000 square feet of the building while leasing out the remaining 5,000 square feet.

Americom finds the products to meet your needs and the services to keep you connected. They believe that it is not about selling you a phone, it’s about building relationships. With all of the changes and variety of wireless choices, one thing remains the same and that is Americom and its commitment to customer service.

The store location in Winter Haven is at 204 6th St., S.W. They can be reached at 297-5900. The sales department is open Monday thru Friday from 9 to 6 and on Saturday 10 to 2. The service department is open Monday thru Friday 8 to 5 and on Saturday 10 to 2.