Russell Swanson is a true entrepreneur. He’s applied his approach to business management across a variety of retail categories. Growing up working in the family business, Swanson Hardware, exposed him to all facets of retail operations and his formal education includes graduating from Vineland High School, studies in England, a B.S. degree in Business Administration from Bridgewater College and an MBA from American University. After serving an internship with Senator Bill Bradley, Russell returned to the family business, but immediately began branching out into other businesses that he started: Swanson Communications; Access Paging Systems; Summit Investment Properties, Bain's Deli, Fuel House Coffee, Our Town Marketing, and The SPOT.

Russell has served on many community/civic organization board of directors and has volunteered with many non- profits over the years. He has done extensive traveling both domestically and internationally.

In August 2014, he accepted the position of Executive Director of the Vineland Downtown Improvement District / Main Street Vineland and now devotes much of his time to the re-development and improvement of Vineland’s downtown shopping district.