BANGOR – A group of Russians is in Maine this month to participate in what some might call “Construction 101 – American-style.”

The delegation, consisting of 11 construction professionals, a facilitator and an interpreter, is here as part of an exchange program that pairs American businesses and civic clubs with Russians striving to develop a sustainable economy, which many see as the key to political stability.

The idea is to provide the Russians a better understanding of how the U.S. construction industry works so they can apply what they’ve learned to their homeland’s fledgling effort to make a transition to a post-Communist economy, noted Lin Lufkin, past president of the Bangor Rotary Club and local coordinator for the program.

Lufkin worked with the last Russian delegation to visit here in 1997. He says the entrepreneurial way of doing business is a relatively new concept in Russia, a country still struggling with privatization. As he sees it, getting from plan to production seems to hold far more pitfalls in Russia. It’s not as easy to get projects under way and the idea of starting a company and developing it are still new ideas.

Zina Generalova, the Russian group’s facilitator and unofficial interpreter, has accompanied 36 Russian delegations to the United States. The St. Petersburg resident has facilitated visits to 26 states, exploring industries ranging from advertising, meat processing and farming to dentistry, insurance and banking. Her next exchange will involve leading a group of bakers to San Francisco.

Generalova said small- and medium-sized businesses currently comprise only 5 percent to 7 percent of the Russian economy. She said high taxes, corruption and cumbersome laws are among the obstacles new businesses face.

An outgrowth of the Productivity Enhancement Program, which is administered by the Center for Citizen Initiatives in San Francisco, the exchange was established in 1983 to spur cooperation between the former Soviet Union and the United States. It is sponsored locally by the Bangor Rotary Club. Delegates are staying with host families while in Maine.

The three-week program is just getting under way, so the Russian delegates have had little time yet to form impressions about the construction industry in the United States.

“They are all for the first time in the United States,” Generalova said.

The Russians’ training officially kicks off today, with an industry overview at the Richard Dyke Center for Family and Small Business at Husson College in Bangor.

By the end of their stay, however, the group will have developed valuable insights into American-style construction, from business planning to budgeting, safety to site-work operations.

The three-week itinerary includes visits to local construction companies, including Cianbro, H.E. Sargent, Nickerson and O’Day Inc. and WBRC Architects-Engineers. The schedule also includes visits to post-secondary education and banking institutions, Bangor City Hall and the state Capitol, where delegates will meet with Maine legislators.

Once they return home, the Russians will share what they’ve learned here through talks with local civic groups and media interviews, to name a few.

Highlights of the Russians’ first weekend here included a historical tour of Bangor, a quick visit to Wal-Mart, Best Buy and the Bangor Mall and a visit to the Maine Center for the Arts at the University of Maine, where they took in a performance by the Russian State Opera.

Delegates also saw the Bangor home of horror writer Stephen King, whose works have been translated into Russian. Generalova said everyone in the delegation had read something written by the Maine writer.

The group will be in Maine through Sunday, March 2.