Richard Russell, Building Consultants Group principal, is available to teach classes and workshops on all aspects of construction and contracting skills.

Russell served for seven years on staff at the University of California in Santa Barbara, teaching hands-on building, construction overview, contractor law and construction estimating. While there, he developed the university’s extension construction curriculum. He currently regularly teaches at Skagit Valley College on San Juan Island.

His seminars are available usually in the fall and spring terms and includes course titles such as House Building in San Juan County, Understanding Home Building Costs and a San Juan Symposium for Professionals.

More than any classroom experience, however, Russell’s expertise arises from his years on the job. He learned his trade from the ground up, and he’s proud of that. “I tell people I’m a carpenter”, says Russell, who after years as a contractor and forensics expert is so much more than that. “I respect carpenters”, he explains, “especially the good ones”. Russell started his career as just that, a carpenter. In 1969, he became a Master House Carpenter. To qualify for this designation required that he demonstrate proficiency in all areas of house carpentry from setting concrete forms to framing, from installing water-tight windows to crafting beautiful cabinets. Today he enjoys sharing this knowledge with others.

Russell’s teaching focuses on each person’s development. What he recalls with the most pride in his career is not a student’s particularly well-crafted cabinet, but a moment of personal growth. One student showed an obvious lack of self-esteem. She struggled along in his housebuilding class, a hands-on six week course. When Russell came across a doubled-top plate someone had not nailed properly into place one day, he handed the young woman a hammer and asked her to nail it. She argued that she didn’t know how to hammer well enough and that she wasn’t good enough. He was gentle and unrelenting. She climbed up on the elevated platform while insisting that he hold her. She summoned the courage and, with his help, nailed the plate into place securely. When she stepped back, the class burst into applause and the woman broke into tears of joy. “To be a part of such a moment is a blessing,” he recalls.