By ELIZABETH E. BATES

Russell Corporation is celebrating an impressive 75th year in business this year.

The company was originally founded as a _construction firm by John D. Russell, Sr. in 1934. The company built its reputation on his personal motto of “doing things right.”

His skill and eye for detail helped him to build one of the largest construction firms in Vermont. Although it is still a family-run business, today it is a fully diversified company that includes construction, design, fabrication and industrial services.

In recent years, the company has gone in a new direction under the leadership of John Russell III.

“My husband decided to scale back the company to stay in step with what he anticipated would be a downturn in the economy,” said Heike Russell, company vice president.

“We had to downsize; we didn’t have a choice. There were a lot of really good people that we had to let go,” Russell said. “Because now we are a lot smaller, we are a lot more hands-on.

“It is fundamentally a family business,” she said. “Sometimes, you can forget what a family stands for. When you scale back, you can focus on giving your best service.”

The company began to expand into new areas where there was growth potential. One such area is industrial maintenance, which includes specialty metal fabrication, surface preparation and coating, equipment, refurbishing and rebuilding and after-market part manufacturing.

Today, the company builds everything from grapples and big hoppers for energy plants to safety equipment. The actual fabrication is done at the Russell shop in Glens Falls, NY. Still, Russell is a construction firm with projects all over the region.

Heike Russell summed up Russell Corporation today. “We are really in a good place. We have a great crew of people. The people we have left are like a family. They have adapted to the changes,” she said.

“It is really a tribute to them that we have been a success. We feel good about coming to work and who is here with us. We are proud of our team.” ?