Davey Tree Flipbooks

34 THE DAVEY BULLETIN | March/April 2020 ORIGINAL EMPLOYEE-OWNER STARTED IN DETROIT 1. If you work hard, stay at it and work smart, you can be successful anywhere with Davey. "Do it right the first time. Then you'll be able to look back, feel good about it, and look forward to the next job." 2. Always be honest with people. "Tell the truth because you can learn from mistakes. Take care of your customers honestly and they will take care of you." 3. Appreciate the people around you. "Take time each day to get to know others, both in the field, managers and support staff. They're full of experience and stories." 4. Treat people the way you want to be treated. "Be people focused. It's important to be accessible." Rick Ramsey is not the suit-and-tie type. Even after he was named vice president and general manager of the Davey Tree Surgery Company, Ramsey was known for throwing on PPE, meeting a crew in the field and working a chipper. He was born on a Michigan farm and raised with a strong work ethic and penchant for getting the job done, even if it meant getting his hands dirty. Ramsey started with Davey in 1972 as a groundperson in the North Detroit office and a year later attended D.I.T.S. By 1976 he had worked as sales arborist, assistant district manager and district manager at the Akron and Columbus offices, all under the mentorship of A.B. "Mac" McKinstry. McKinstry, a WWII veteran like Ramsey's father, "had a voice that would shake the room" but stressed honesty and doing things "the Davey way," Ramsey said. "He taught me to be a quick judge of character and to lead by example. You can tell a lot about a man by his work ethic and how he treats the people he works with, including clients," Ramsey said. "The Davey way involves three C's: competence, courteous and clean-up. Teach people to know what they're talking about and go out with competence; be polite and respectful with clients and your coworkers; and then always cleanup after yourself." In Columbus, the 29-year-old Ramsey brought on a young Dan Joy, now executive vice president and general manager, Commercial Landscape Services and Operations Support service, and others to help build a wider client base and expand the regional footprint of Davey in the Columbus region. Newly married with a new house in the city, Ramsey took a financial risk and was among the 114 original employee owners courted by the employee ownership committee to purchase the company in 1979. "Back then, I didn't think much about stocks or assets. I just went to work every day, put in my time, and made it work. In the end, I did what I thought was best for my family," he said. All employees should consider buying stock, he said, because it's important to own a piece of what you helped build. By 1989, Ramsey headed West to California, helping to manage the Davey Tree Surgery Company's residential offices under the direction of Gene Haupt. By 2000, Karl Warnke appointed him vice president and general manager, Davey Canada. He fondly remembers the "adventures" of traveling to the Nanaimo area: flying red eyes across the U.S., hopping ferries and helicopter rides just to reach the offices. "As in California with Davey Surgery, Canada felt like I was breaking more new ground for Davey," Ramsey said. "It was a challenge getting the teams from High Tree better transitioned into Davey culture and setting them up for success. And looking at their current successes, I like to think I had some part in that." RAMSEY'S ADVICE FOR A DAVEY 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. Rick Ramsey retired in 2015 following a 43-year career at Davey. He was corporate vice president of Canadian operations. RETIREE CORNER

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