EFMA member profile, Russ Sales

MEMBER PROFILE Creating a difference

Retired director of facilities for the Burnaby School Board, Russ Sales remembers his 32 years in the industry

By Shayna Wiwierski

Life has come full circle for Russ Sales, retired director of facilities for the Burnaby School Board.

Sales started his career in 1979 when he became a Red Seal ticketed carpenter, working on high rises until 1984 when he became a carpenter for CUPE 379 and the Burnaby School District. He held that position until 1989 when he moved up to being a carpenter locksmith. In 1991 he became the maintenance supervisor and was put in charge of the grounds, carpentry paint, mechanical trades, electrical paint, and more, and then took over the position of manager of capital projects for the school district until 2011 when he became the director of facilities.

As director of facilities, Sales was in charge of all the district buildings and made sure the managers and supervisors, as well as crew, were on task. He also did all the budget work and put in ministry requests for new funds for new additions on buildings, seismic upgrades, carbon neutral offsets, and more.

“The whole reason we were there was to make the facilities warm, safe, and secure. I oversaw $120 million worth of new construction work completed, 90 per cent of which was on time,” says Sales, who was born and raised in Burnaby, B.C.

In addition to four new facilities that he oversaw, Sales was involved in 40 seismic upgrades and retrofitted additional facilities. His favourite part of the job was being able to work with others and get tasks completed every day so the big schools remained open. He got to troubleshoot a lot of problems, and one in particular that comes to mind was the major wind storm in Vancouver three years ago that wiped out Stanley Park.

“We survived that. A couple buildings we couldn’t get power to, but most of them we kept operational. We kept kids in the building where they belong.”

Although he recently retired, Sales credits being a member of EFMA B.C. (formerly SPOA), as an organization that gives you opportunity to network with your counterparts and learn from them. As a member since 1991, he mentions the great leadership programs and the ability to feed off of others to do the job better.

As for life after retirement, he’s gone back to his carpentry roots and enjoys building things in his shop out back (he still lives on the same street he was born and raised on), and visiting his property in the country, where he goes to dig holes using his small excavator bulldozer, hunt and fish. He also spends lots of time with his grandkids.

“you reach that time and you look at the numbers – 32 years – it’s time to enjoy some of the other stuff I do. I still work in my shop out back, build furniture, do small renos. I went back to what I was doing.” n

Although he recently retired, Sales credits being a member of EFMA b.c. (formerly SPOA), as an organization that gives you opportunity to network with your counterparts and learn from them.