Businessman eyeing Senate seat might not live up to hype

If everything goes as scripted, Democrat and businessman Byron Georgiou could be the next U.S. senator from Nevada.

If Georgiou manages to write a happy ending, it will be against substantial odds and political drama. Fact is, the candidate has a lot to overcome.

Thanks to the John Ensign under-the-covers cover-up scandal, formidable Republican Dean Heller has been appointed to that Senate seat pending the outcome of the 2012 election. On his worst day, Heller is a hard-charging candidate.

Then there's the even greater obstacle of outpacing announced Democratic candidate Congresswoman Shelley Berkley, one of the most energetic campaigners in state history. Georgiou will have to figure a way to overcome Berkley in the primary to earn the chance to take a shot at Heller.

But as lawyer Georgiou would tell you, he has defeated big opponents in the past. As reported in a gushing local television profile recently, he took on Enron and WorldCom and prevailed against daunting odds. His political activity and fundraising skill helped him win an appointment from Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid to the Fiscal Crisis Inquiry Committee.

Reid doesn't support Georgiou's Senate aspirations. He's in Berkley's corner.

Although Georgiou surely would have benefited from Reid's endorsement, the challenger has made it clear he's financially able to self-fund his candidacy. He's aggressively courting progressive political groups, has infused $500,000 into his campaign coffers and has hired an experienced political team that includes strategists Dan Hart and Joe Trippi and pollster Paul Maslin.

Although he lacks the name recognition of key opponents, he has made it clear he has the finances to change that. And he has enjoyed no shortage of positive press lately for his role in developing Xtreme Green Products Inc., which a KLAS-TV, Channel 8, report recently enthusiastically embraced as a North Las Vegas-based manufacturer of electric scooters, motorcycles and ATVs.

Georgiou was portrayed as the owner of the business. He's a director and approximately a 5 percent investor.

At one point, Georgiou told a reporter, "We're one of the unique businesses in America that manufactures in America and exports to Mexico."

Sounds impressive. But it's not an accurate picture of Xtreme Green's operation. To get that, there's some assembly required.

The best place to start looking is the company's Securities and Exchange Commission Form 10-K filed in April. Under "Manufacturing," it states, "Xtreme is having the components for its products assembled and manufactured in both China and the United States. While the motor scooter and motorcycle are completely manufactured and assembled in China, the PMV is manufactured and assembled at its headquarters in Las Vegas. Some other products, like the ATV and the UTv are expected to be manufactured in China but assembled in the U.S.

"In China, Xtreme has hired three full-time employees to set up and manage the coordination and purchasing of components, the assembly plant for the products and the quality control visits to suppliers."

The company's official paperwork tells a far more nuanced story that's a lot less politically helpful to Georgiou at a time he's trying to portray himself as a serious contender for a U.S. Senate seat.

Of course, in this economy, job creation is never a bad thing -- even if much of it is in China. Xtreme employs 24 nonunion workers, including two executive officers, and has leased a 35,000-square-foot warehouse at 2191 Mendenhall Drive, Unit 101, in North Las Vegas, according to the 10-K.

Not bad at all, but not exactly as advertised.

Although I had hoped to hear the candidate's explanation, my Monday inquiry instead resulted in a call from Xtreme President Neil Roth, who said, "Two products we make in China, and three products we make here."

I wish the company nothing but the best.

But if Senate candidate Georgiou wants to write that improbable happy ending he has been dreaming of, he'll need to start getting his lines right.

John L. Smith's column appears Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. E-mail him at Smith@reviewjournal.com or call (702) 383-0295. He also blogs at lvrj.com/blogs/Smith