This isn’t the first time Richard Martinell, a 1981 graduate of the college’s Carpentry Apprenticeship program, has returned to work at the campus where he started to learn his trade. In the early 1980s, he was one of the tradespeople involved in building Centre Core and, more than three decades after he worked to construct it, he looks around the building with approving eyes and says it’s still a great space.
Last January, Martinell returned to Lethbridge College as the general foreman for Stuart Olson at the site of the new trades and technologies facility on the south end of campus. His work has changed quite a bit since he was last on campus – these days he is part scheduler, part trouble shooter and part problem solver. “My main job is to make sure everything runs smoothly – everything,” Martinell explains. “We work with the subtrades and there are certain windows we have to get things done. Part of what I do is to schedule, organize, track down solutions and chase down answers to make sure each one is there doing their job at the right time.”
He says he encourages young people to consider apprenticeships to launch their careers – and that he can’t think of a better one. “You can go as far as you want – you can be your own boss or work for a company – and you can always keep on developing your skills.”
