Two-term State Rep. Richard Berry often lauds his credentials as a small businessman in his campaign for mayor, saying that if elected he’d run the city more like a business. But now, incumbent mayor Martin Chavez is questioning those credentials with a campaign mailer saying that Berry doesn’t own a small business that has any, well, business. But that’s not the only issue raised by the mailer.

“…the only business RJ Berry owns is RJ Berry Enterprises, Inc., a construction company that hasn’t built anything in over 10 years—No sales, No Income, No employees, No office.,” the mailer says.

New Mexico’s Public Regulation Commission shows Berry listed only as the Director of RJ Berry Enterprises, which was incorporated in 1986. It lists his wife, Maria E. Berry, as the Director of Cumbre Construction, which was incorporated in 1996.

The couple met in college and were married in 1990, according to Berry’s Web site.

Cumbre Construction is the business mentioned by the Associated Builders and Contractors in their press release announcing endorsement of Berry’s mayoral campaign.

Cumbre is described as “Hispanic owned” in a list of the 500 largest Hispanic owned companies in the nation. For many years, it was ranked in New Mexico Woman magazine’s list of Top 25 Woman-owned businesses in New Mexico.

Between 2000 and 2008, the company won almost $50 million in federal defense contracts.

The Berry campaign has not responded to the Independent’s specific inquiries about Cumbre Construction’s business, and what role Berry plays in his wife’s business, although Berry’s campaign Web site refers to “their family-owned construction business.”

From Berry’s biography on his campaign Web site:

Richard Berry is a businessman and entrepreneur with over 20 years of real business experience here in New Mexico and the greater Southwest region.

After college, Richard immediately joined the business community and has worked in the construction and project management field ever since. He has successfully managed multi-million dollar projects in New Mexico and through the Southwest United States.

Nineteen years ago, Richard married his college sweetheart, Maria Medina, …

In 1998, Richard joined up in business with Maria, who is herself an accomplished businesswoman. They have worked together ever since in their family owned construction business. Through a great deal of hard work and diligence they have grown the company into a multi-award winning business.

So Chavez says Berry doesn’t have any business experience because the company he owns hasn’t done any business in more than 10 years. But just from the PRC records and press reports, it looks like Berry decided to join forces with his wife and it’s her company that is their “family business.”

So then the question is this: Is it appropriate for Berry to take credit for running a successful small business, while on paper he takes no credit so that his wife can claim the business is Hispanic- and woman-owned? The campaign has not responded to NMI’s request for comment.

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