A new history of Kent’s amazing Davey Tree Expert Co. | Along The Way

“Growth Rings:  A History of The Davey Tree Expert Company and Companion to Green Leaves,” is an inspiring story about an amazingly successful company that remains headquartered in Kent.

Written by Matt Fredmonsky, manager of Corporate Content for Davey Tree, it tells the history of the company the past 60 years as it evolved from a family-owned to employee-owned company with a renewed sense of mission whose annual sales grew from approximately $52 million at the time of the transition in 1979 to a projected $1.5 billion this year.

Fredmonsky was the featured speaker a week and a half ago at Tap Talks, the monthly community forum hosted by retired architect Doug Fuller, retired publisher Tom Hatch, and still active industrial location expert, Don Schjeldahl at Schjeldahl’s North Water Brewery, a craft brewery at the juncture of North Water and Lake Street, and Crain Avenue.

Fredmonsky’s talk was so interesting that I borrowed a copy of “Growth Rings,” a nearly 200-page carefully researched compendium of stories, photographs and names of people, many of them familiar to those who have resided in the Kent area and have an interest in its history.

A few of the key figures in the company’s transition from a family-run business to an employee-owned one, were Jack Joy, Jim Pohl and Doug Cowan, the three who led the employee buyout, and Martin L. Davey Jr., the family member whose support of their offer, made it possible.

In an interview before he died, Davey is quoted as saying he backed the sale of the company to its employees because he wanted to keep the company “in the family."  The implication was that the employees of Davey, which his grandfather, John Davey, founded in 1880, were an extension of the family.

“Green Leaves” by Robert Pfleger, covers the history of Davey Tree during its first 80 years when three generations of family leadership created a successful business.  It is easy to underestimate the countless decisions, ambition, dedication and caring, as well as identifying opportunities that go into making a business successful. The Davey family earned its success and that must be respected. And so have the employees who purchased the company.  Success was not guaranteed.  Countless decisions, ambition, dedication and caring as well as following up on opportunities have made The Davey Tree Expert Company the amazing success it has become.

For instance, consider the challenges and costs of just maintaining and replacing millions of dollars worth of tree trimmers, saws, trucks, hydraulic bucket lifts and other tools housed in regional centers throughout the United States and Canada. Fredmonsky writes about that. He also writes about professionalizing with good training the crews that account for many of the company’s 10,000 plus employees.

Historically, the trimming of trees and foliage for utility companies whose power lines run along millions of miles of roads, was the staple of Davey.  Fredmonsky explains that such work has become extremely competitive and the low bidder who wins the business, too often does a poor job that Davey is then hired to correct.

Like members of the Davey family who kept the company going, the new leadership continually looks for new, related lines of service.  Growth occurs in residential and commercial property care in which Davey has its expertise in tree management, lawn fertilizers and combating destructive invasive species.  The care of marquee properties like Arlington National Cemetery and aspects of the Washington Mall becomes reputation building.  Hurricanes and forest fires represent business opportunities for the company as it grows into the American southeast and the west. Cities, sensing that trees and landscaping can make them more livable, consult with Davey.

“Growth Rings” spotlights people who rise to challenges.  Fredmonsky writes of division managers, spread out over the USA and Canada, who must make important decisions on the spot.  He writes of The Davey Tree Surgery Company, a separate company started long ago by Wellington Davey in California that is merged into the Davey Tree Expert Company, and is capably led by Gene Haupt.  He tells of the maturing of the Davey Institute of Tree Surgery into the Davey Institute of Tree Sciences, inspired in part by Dr. Roger Funk, who helped establish a collaboration with Kent State University for a two-year associate degree program.

The careful watch by Davey’s leaders for achievers to promote and prepare to eventually run the company is a recipe for success. Fredmonsky reports of Karl Warnke’s dedication to Davey growth that leads to his rise to the presidency and Pat Covey’s taking on huge software challenges that catch the eye of leaders, contributing to his rise to the presidency.  Their stories are two of many.  Fredmonsky shows that Davey is the story of thousands of dedicated, caring and creative employee-owners and their contributions.

Curiously, climate change is an opportunity for Davey as its work involves keeping America and Canada green.  Droughts, hurricanes, forest fires, floods, scorching summer temperatures and the plagues that can accompany them, require an expertise that the Davey Tree Expert Company already has.  If Davey can continue to find good leadership and enjoy strong employee commitment, its best days may be yet to come.

David E. Dix is a retired publisher of the Record-Courier.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: A new history of Kent’s amazing Davey Tree Expert Co.