2006 Recipients

Atkinson & Kelsey, P.A.

Atkinson & Kelsey, P.A. is New Mexico’s largest family practice law firm. They deal with family issues including divorce, child custody and prenuptial agreements. These can be highly charged issues and Atkinson & Kelsey’s goal is to maintain the highest ethical standards and to ultimately provide equity to all parties involved.

There is a passion among the employees at Atkinson & Kelsey to do what is best. This starts at the top with David Kelsey, the managing partner. He sets the standards which everyone else in the firm follows. Kelsey is described as being compassionate, generous and highly ethical and this resonates throughout the firm. New employees are mentored personally by Kelsey and he teaches them how to conduct themselves.

One of Kelsey’s aspirations is to improve family law’s reputation. He has written a highly regarded manual on family law entitled, The New Mexico Divorce Manual. The firm is actively involved with the legislature in attempting to change New Mexico’s family laws in order to make them more equitable for all family members.

At Atkinson & Kelsey, a positive outcome for the family is more important than making a profit. The firm is deeply concerned for the emotional well-being of all those who may be involved in the litigation, particularly the children. They offer counseling services to any participant who may need them. The firm also has a strict policy which stipulates that it won’t, under any circumstances, represent a client who puts his or her children in a risky situation.

Atkinson & Kelsey has been recognized as a highly ethical and professional law firm by the Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers. Kelsey also was the first family law attorney to receive an AV rating in the Martindale-Hubbell Legal Directory, which is a lawyer peer review program. The “A” signifies the highest level of legal ability, and the “V” denotes a very high adherence to the professional standards of conduct, ethics, reliability and diligence.

Cataline Automotive Service Center

Cataline Automotive Service Center takes pride in working with their customers on a personal level to make sure their customers receive the service they need, and ONLY the service they need and can afford. Customers are greeted by their first names and Cataline can boast that they are now seeing fourth and fifth generation customers. Their business comes solely from word of mouth advertising as they have never paid for any type of advertising in the 36 years they have been in business as a full service automotive center.

When providing service to customers, Carl Cataline is honest about what is best for the customer, even if it means referring the customer to a competitor who can better meet their automotive needs. Carl informs the customer up front about what services he will perform and goes out of his way to make sure the estimate won’t have any hidden costs or surprises.

Because Cataline has always had such an outstanding reputation for quality work, the shop was selected as a pilot training center for technicians in the automotive industry. A pilot training center is where other automotive centers send their technicians for the best training.

The five employees at Cataline agree that all work done there is based on honesty and integrity. They all work together to provide the best possible service to their customers. In one instance, an employee received a call from a customer whose car would not start after being repaired at Cataline. After closing the shop, the employee personally drove to the other side of town to meet the customer at her house. The car was fixed on the spot in the customer’s garage, at no charge. The employee felt that it was his job to make sure the customer was more than completely satisfied.

Customers say Cataline Automotive Service Center is truly one of those businesses “where everybody knows your name.

DRB Electric, Inc.

DRB Electric was founded in 1986 and run out of Denise and Randy Baker’s dining room in Albuquerque’s South Valley. In 1991, when Denise joined the company full-time, they expanded to a small room off their garage. Their business has grown to over 70 employees with clients throughout New Mexico and Arizona. They now are in a 6000 square foot building and have remained in the South Valley.

Randy and Denise run their business using the Golden Rule principle, treating their employees, clients and competitors just how they would want to be treated themselves. The Baker’s strong commitment to their employees is exemplified by their apprenticeship program. DRB recruits young men and women who have recently graduated from high school to join their program. DRB sends these recruits to Albuquerque Technical Vocational Institute, paying their tuition for the four year training program, plus paying their apprenticeship wages. Once these employees have completed the TVI program, they are promoted to journeymen and they begin their climb up the company ladder. DRB currently partners with the New Mexico Department of Labor’s Workforce Program and hires displaced workers, ex-convicts and single parents.

DRB pays 100% of employee’s health insurance and long term disability insurance costs. The company also provides fully paid marital counseling to anyone who needs it. If an employee is injured on the job, DRB will hold that job open until the employee can return to work. DRB also employs a full-time safety officer, although it is not required to do so.

After the September 11th terrorist attacks, there was a dramatic downturn in DRB’s business due to cancelled or delayed contracts. The Bakers were forced to downsize from approximately 40 employees to 17. The Bakers helped their laid off employees find jobs with DRB competitors and took no salaries themselves during this slow period of time. Today, they make it a point to hire laid off employees from other electrical contractors when times are slow.

DRB is a growing company that has very high expectations for itself and has very high ethical standards.

Not-For-Profit Organization
TVI Foundation

The TVI Foundation is a non-profit organization whose primary mission is to give whatever extra financial assistance is necessary to provide the citizens of TVI’s service area with the quality education they deserve. At the TVI Foundation, their motto is “It’s all about the students,” and TVI has demonstrated it is committed to fulfilling TVI students’ needs by providing scholarships to students and potential students to help them realize their academic goals. The culture of the TVI Foundation is one of great commitment to the TVI students’ academic success, whatever it takes.

They go a step further by providing emergency scholarship money to students who have extenuating circumstances that hinder their ability to attend school. For instance, the TVI Foundation paid for a student’s car repairs so that he would have transportation to school. They also provided a student with an emergency grant to pay rent while the student was temporarily unemployed.

Continuing to reach out to the citizens of their service area, the TVI Foundation has developed partnerships with other non-profit organizations in an effort to correct statewide social and economic problems.

One of the TVI Foundation’s collaborative programs that goes above and beyond is the statewide Tax Help program. This free, statewide tax preparation program reaches out to families and individuals who earn less than $30,000 annually or those 65 years of age and older. The TVI Foundation trains volunteer tax preparers who come from New Mexico colleges, high schools and community centers. These volunteers then fan out across the state to prepare tax returns. In its four years of existence, Tax Help NM has spread to 40 sites in 23 cities, and has helped 26,000 low income and elderly New Mexicans maximize their tax returns.

There are other collaborations as well. The GED Outreach to Placebound Program provides financial assistance to ex-convicts. The Reading Kids Count Program and the Educational Career Advancement program are both examples of socially responsible programs that serve more than just the TVI student population. So while the TVI Foundation is compelled to assure their students’ academic success, they are also committed to making a difference throughout the state of New Mexico.

PNM Award for Individual Excellence in Ethical Business Practice,
in Honor of John Ackerman
Robert Wertheim

Robert Wertheim is a native New Mexican, growing up in Fort Sumner. Ethical behavior is held in high regard in Wertheim’s family. He looks to his own father as his greatest influence in his life and his fundamental beliefs about ethics. Wertheim started working in their family owned store, Wertheim’s Department Store when he was five years old. Through his father’s example, he learned about fair and honest behavior and he has passed this behavior on to his own children.

Wertheim is a strong, charismatic, moral leader who has created an astounding ethical climate in his company, Charter-Bank-Mortgage Insurance. Wertheim is described by many as a quiet pioneer of good work and ethical behavior. He desires to help and strongly believes in supporting his community in any way he can.

When he purchased Charter Bank in the late 70’s, before business ethics were “in”, his immediate goal was to set an ethical code for the company. This code has grown and evolved to include Charter’s vision, mission and guiding principles statements. Employees are trained on the importance of ethical behavior and that behavior is included in each employee’s performance evaluation. He encourages his employees to participate in community building experiences.

Wertheim’s community involvement is broad and varied. He is a past board member and chairman of Albuquerque Economic Development, and a current member of the Kirtland Partnership Committee. He currently serves as chairman of ACCION New Mexico. In 2004, he was honored by the Association of Fundraising Professionals as the outstanding fundraising volunteer of the year. Wertheim was recently inducted into the Junior Achievement’s New Mexico Business Hall of Fame. He was also an original inductee into the University of New Mexico’s Anderson Schools of Management Hall of Fame. He has raised countless dollars for his alma mater.

The essence of Robert Wertheim is that he always seeks to do the right thing because it is right, not because of popularity or profitability.