Robert Swanson
President
Swanson & Youngdale, Inc.

Bob Swanson has carried on his father's profession as a union painter for the last thirty-four years. He began his work in the finishing industry in 1970 after receiving his bachelor's degree in history and political science from Gustavus Adolphus College of St. Peter, Minnesota in 1969.

In the following years as a painter, he as also served as a leader in numerous organizations including serving as a vocational instructor of painting and decorating. While serving as an instructor, he was also elected president of the Minnesota Federation of Teachers Local 229.   Mr. Swanson later went on to become the vocational supervisor of the Building Trades Program of Minnesota.

Mr. Swanson co-founded Swanson & Youngdale, Inc and served as a superintendent for the company. In 1990 he became the company's president. Swanson & Youngdale, Inc. is a leading commercial and industrial painting contractor based in St. Louis Park, Minnesota.  

Mr. Swanson has also served as president of the Minnesota Council of Painting and Decorating Contractors of America, as well as belonging to the American Subcontractors Association of Minnesota, the Minneapolis Painters Health and Welfare Pension and Vacation Funds, and served as an officer in the Minnesota Painting and Wallcovering Employers Association. He is a former president of the Finishing Contractors Association (FCA), and currently sits on the FCA Board of Directors.

In the spring of 1999, the FCA appointed him as a trustee to the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades' (IUPAT) Joint Apprenticeship Training Fund (JATF). Currently, he also serves as the Fund's co-chairman. In addition to his duties for the JATF, Mr. Swanson also is a trustee for the IUPAT's Labor Management Cooperation Initiative (LMCI).