How to find a local tech that really knows his stuff...

I just started working for a company with around 50-100 employees, and a truly horrible off site IT man.  We are having a lot of problems with our exchange server and the blackberry support that goes along with it.  Also we are having to restart our server about 3 times a week to keep it functional.  And to top it off, our share point server just crashed wiping out our file hierarchy - our current tech did not have any backup measures in place.

I know computers fairly well, but I do not know the ins and outs of exchange servers and corporate networks.  What we need is a good technician that can sort out our problems and than be on call for any emergencies that may arrise. The company is not big enough to warrent a full time IT man, we would probably only need about 1 day ever month or two once everything got straighted out.

What I need to know is how to find a good local tech that knows his stuff.  I do not have any say in this matter, but if I can find a good tech, I could present it to the president of the company and hopefully get it approved. I just have no idea how to locate a good local tech.

I know I don't want the geek squad in here, and I have heard a couple of things that make me a bit wary of Nerds on Site - thee doesn't seem to be a way to check the competence of local techs.  You all have any suggestions.  An expert exchange directory would be great...

Oh, and I am in So-Cal, not too far from Riverside.