Davey Tree Flipbooks

31 May/June 2019 | THE DAVEY BULLETIN FORMER D.I.T.S. COORDINATOR EARNED JOHN DAVEY AWARD 1. Do your best: "Do everything that you are asked to do and do it as best you can. And everything comes to you after that. I got promoted based on the fact I was doing as best I could. Do whatever job you have at 110 percent. Learn while you do it. Take on new tasks and do them at the best of your ability. Don't be afraid to take on jobs you don't know how to do and learn how to do them." 2. Retirement comes fast: "Another thing that is smart for everybody, including people who are young, start worrying about retirement. It comes faster than you can imagine. I can honestly say the stock was a great benefit in my retirement. How many people get to own the company they work for. Buy what you can." 3. Work/Life Balance: "To be happy at your job, you've also got to be good at home. The two go together. You have to think about your whole life. I think volunteering for things outside of Davey Tree helps you to grow, mature and build confidence." If one could describe retiree Dick Jones' career here at Davey, one would say that he took whatever challenge was thrown his way and ran with it. Jones worked at Davey briefly in the 1980s before working elsewhere in the industry. In 1988, Jones would return to Davey as a foreman in the East Cleveland R/C office. In 1989, Jones was promoted as a human and technical support specialist in the Davey Institute. He was promoted to manager of personnel administration in 1990. Jones joked that he was promised to be in the position for one year, which turned into four years. "Dr. Roger Funk called me and told me Doug Cowan wanted me to take over the personnel department. I knew nothing about personnel," Jones said. "My major was in forestry, but I adapted, learned and did the best I could." In 1994, he became manager of education and training and remained in that position until he retired in 2007. "I love D.I.T.S. (Davey Institute of Tree Sciences)," Jones said. "I coordinated D.I.T.S. and taught at it. I did everything from management to let's go climb a tree. I liked meeting the students for the first time and seeing them grow and learn over a period of time." One of the biggest memories for Jones was being honored at the National Managers Meeting in 2007 with the John Davey Award of Excellence. "I didn't know it was coming," Jones said. "The management of Davey Tree throughout the country and Canada get to vote, and it means they appreciated what I was doing. I was very proud to receive that award." Jones said a joy of his retirement has been watching the growth of the people he hired or worked with at Davey. "One nice opportunity you have as a retiree is to sit back and look at the Bulletin and see all the men and women who you worked with and be able to see them get promoted and move on, and that makes you proud of what you saw happen too," Jones said. "The only thing I can say is that I literally loved my job, loved working with the employees of Davey Tree and the clients. It was a great experience." JONES' ADVICE FOR A LONG CAREER: Retirees! Have stories to share about your life at Davey? To be featured, call 800-447-1667 ext. 8615 or send us an email at bulletin@davey.com. RETIREE CORNER Dick Jones said retirement's been all that it could be. He loves traveling with his wife Lorie. They enjoy spending time on an island off the coast of Georgia each year. Jones said that you must learn to enjoy retirement and find things to occupy your time.

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