Russ Smith, who grew up in Washington, is a product specialist for Madill, a brand of DC Equipment. He has more than 45 years of experience working on equipment or selling equipment for timber harvesting and related industries and servicing customers, and he has sold equipment on three continents. In the past he was a senior factory representative for Madill and a steep slope specialist, helping engineers in equipment design, and also a part-owner in Madill. After 16 years working for Modern Machinery as a steep slope specialist and territory manager and product line manager for Falcon Forestry Equipment and Madill, he returned to working for Madill earlier this year.

Smith has served as president or vice president of the Alaska Forest Association. He also served on an Oregon advisory board that helped develop a guide and best practices for steep slope logging.

TimberWest: How did you first get involved in the industry?

Smith: When I was young I painted cars at a body shop. Then there was an opportunity to paint heavy equipment at Ross Equipment in Chehalis. They shut down and moved to Coburg, Oregon. I interviewed with Cascade Logging Supply and started working for them the same day.

TimberWest: What do you like most about your job?

Smith: I love it. The customers. I love the industry. Our customers are some of the best people on the planet. The timber industry is renewable. It’s a great industry to be a part of.

TimberWest: What is the best piece of business advice you ever received?

Smith: To be honest. Work hard and be honest. I trained under a lot of older people. They took me under their wings because I was learning. They traveled the world to deliver yarders. That’s why I specialized in that type of equipment.

TimberWest: Do you think there are any new issues that the forest products industry – from the loggers to the mills – is going to have to deal with in the next few years?

Smith: People used to be your most important asset. Today we just don’t have them. Twenty years ago people said, ‘Let’s send our kids to college,’ to prepare them. Young people today grew up playing video games. That’s kind of how you run machines now. They’re our future loggers, and they’re really good at running these machines as we automate more and more. And the technology is saving lives. It takes a lot to make it work, but it works.

TimberWest: If you could change any business decision that you have made in the past, what would you do differently, and why?

Smith: I don’t think I’d do anything differently. I’ve had a wonderful career. I made this industry my career. I had my wife’s backing. I’m all over the map. You leave early in the morning, you get home late, sometimes you work on holidays. It’s a lifestyle. It’s like logging. They get up early every day and work long hours.

TimberWest: What advice would you give someone entering the industry?

Smith: Work hard. Pay attention. Ask questions about it. Look at old books and literature, read and understand it and how it all works, and what you have to do to make it work. It’s a wonderful career if you let it be, but there are long days. It’s not nine to five. It can be five to nine, but not all the time. It’s hard work, but it’s very rewarding.

TimberWest: What is the best part of working in the industry?

Smith: The people. The people you meet along the way, and the long relationships you have with these customers. I’m working with the third or fourth generation of some of them. I dealt with their grandfather, their dad, his kids, and now their kids. It’s pretty cool. Loggers are the true stewards of the forest. They don’t want to cut the last tree. We use their products for so many different things. Timber is a crop, like corn.