Goochland County resident Scott Ruth has been involved in the real estate profession for 11 years.

He started as an agent for Long and Foster at their Tuckahoe Office on Patterson Avenue in December 2000. In 2005, he became broker for the office, and now he carries not only that title, but also the president of the Richmond Association of Realtors.

One of the aspects of being a broker that he enjoys is helping agents succeed in the real estate business.

“We have over 80 agents that work out of this office,” Ruth said. “Some live in Chesterfield County and others live in Varina. They live all around the area and sell everywhere.”

Since training is one of his responsibilities, he tries to hold a training session at least once a week.

“We might do something here in the office, or hit the road,” Ruth said. “We might go out to someplace like Luck Stone and talk with them about what new products they have, or we might stay here and work on a new area of technology.”

Ruth said technology is always changing in the real estate industry.

“We now have paperless contracts that are legal,” he said. “I can take a laptop and a client and go out into the middle of the woods someplace and do a contract.”

Ruth said that Goochland remains a county with two distinct identities.

“The eastern part of the county around Henrico is very metropolitan and the western is still rural,” he said. “If people are looking for a home in a metropolitan type of setting, the eastern part of the county has everything they want. The western part is still rural with a lot of farms and open land.”

Ruth said he thought the commercial development of West Creek would be a big stimulus for the county.

“When West Creek was built, they were going to have all of these businesses locate there, and it just hasn’t happened,” he noted. “The county really needs to push to develop that area. It would be a big boost.”

As for the real estate industry as a whole, Ruth said he believes rebuilding a relationship with consumers is the key.

“We’ve got to reestablish consumer confidence in our industry,” he said. “When we get consumer confidence back, people will start buying homes again and the whole economy will improve.”

When Ruth gets away from his office, he enjoys time with his family, especially around venues with water. Locally, he, his wife and their four children enjoy Virginia Beach and the Rappahannock River. When they travel, they often visit Charleston, S.C.

“I graduated from the University of Charleston, and we have family there,” he said. “It’s a great place to visit and vacation and is one of our favorite destinations.”