Davey Tree Flipbooks

4 THE DAVEY BULLETIN | September/October 2023 Q. WHAT IS A TYPICAL WEEK LIKE FOR YOU? Davey have collaborated on many tree care projects and they are a key partner for us. Weekly, I get the chance to interact directly with clients and employees. I hear from clients and employees sharing praise and concerns, and I like to respond personally to help where I can by facilitating a solution or to shine a light on a deserving employee. Any given week, several key partners and employee groups visit the corporate office who I try to meet with. That week, the relationship manager from Principal Financial Group, which manages our 401KSOP program, visited Davey. The Ruhlin Company, our construction partner for recent corporate and SEED Campus construction, also held an event. And I have a standing, weekly call with the CEO of the firm helping facilitate our SAP conversion. Writing emails requires a few hours each day, as I can average 150 daily emails that need a response. I am a big list-maker, and my constant companion is my Field Notes notebook, which has as many as 10 different goals to accomplish for that week on my to-do list. I also dedicate time each week to forward-looking planning and thinking strategically about company goals and initiatives and how we want them to evolve and grow. I meet on a regular cadence with our executive vice presidents, so any week I may be meeting with any number of them. These meetings offer a direct connection to our operations and field personnel for me. And thanks to the various roles I've held, and friendships I've made through my 32 years with Davey, I get to hear from folks I know personally from around the company. I have an open-door policy, and to the extent folks feel comfortable talking with me I always welcome their thoughts and feedback, as I hope they do mine. I am incredibly fortunate to engage with so many Davey people each week. I strive to prioritize my weekly activities to support our company goals, initiatives and values by removing impediments to our success, and creating an environment that is open, positive and team focused. A. Like most of you, no two weeks are the same for me. So, I chose a week in September to talk through my actual calendar. That week included a Davey Board of Directors meeting. We prep in advance the latest company financial statements, the Vision 2030 Strategic Plan scorecard, agendas for the meetings of the board audit, governance and compensation committees, and the board meeting itself, which may include guest speakers from the management team who update the board on current projects like the SAP S/4HANA ® conversion, unique operational challenges and opportunities, or strategic initiatives. At this meeting Scott Hyland, vice president of corporate marketing, reviewed marketing initiatives and Jed Day, executive vice president, U.S. Residential Operations, discussed R/C operations updates and how marketing efforts generate leads and opportunities for our R/C offices. I also have the privilege of serving four organizations connected to Davey in various ways. I chair the audit committee for the Akron Children's Hospital (ACH) board of directors, which also met that week. ACH is not only a valued Davey client, but we also work with them on a number of charitable endeavors. I serve as chair of the board of trustees for the Arbor Day Foundation, which is a long-time Davey partner who is critical to our work in the tree planting space and was a co-partner in founding i-Tree ® . The Arbor Day board met in conjunction with the Trees and Utilities Conference, which I attended in Pittsburgh. Although they did not meet that week, I also serve on the boards of two organizations that operate more in our operations space that meet occasionally. Bandit Industries, a manufacturer of brush chipper and other tree care equipment, is a considerable supplier of ours. They became employee-owned in 2018 and asked me to lend my expertise in leading an employee-owned organization. It's been truly rewarding to watch them succeed. Davey holds a minority ownership stake in Environmental Design, Inc., (EDI) a large tree-moving firm based in Texas. EDI and ASK THE CEO Pat Covey Davey Chairman, President and CEO

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