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| May/June 2016
MY DAVEY
In late January, Davey's East and Mid-Atlantic territories were trounced by an
overwhelming volume of snow from Winter Storm Jonas–the largest in history
for six locations in the East.
Luckily, Phil Snyder, vice president of East Atlantic operations, and Chris Klimas,
operations manager of Mid-Atlantic operations, had a week's warning of the
coming storm. That gave them ample time to prepare.
"We were ready with pre-storm investments with equipment ready and pre-staged
with extra fuel and maintenance tools," Klimas says.
In events like this, employees and equipment work around the clock. Klimas and
Snyder worked with their territories' district managers to make sure all the pieces
were in place before the storm hit.
"Pre-staging equipment on site is a very important factor," Klimas says. "If you
don't get out there early, you might not be able to make it out."
Klimas and Snyder have both seen storms of this magnitude before in their
combined 39 years at Davey. However, it was the first big snow storm for most of
the 200 crew members from R/C to utility who worked that snow-filled weekend.
"Many of our offices are new to snow and ice removal," Snyder says. "It's quite
new for about four of my seven offices, all of which received 26 inches to 31
inches of snow."
Davey's North Philadelphia R/C office was one of the seven offices hit hard. For
two years, Jason Parker, district manager, has offered snow removal services out
of the North Philadelphia office.
"The storm proved to be very challenging for us, but we learned a lot," Parker
says. "I feel much more confident in our abilities going forward."
Parker's crew powered through many obstacles that weekend, from employee
BLIZZARD POUNDS EAST, MID-ATLANTIC
Davey's North Philadelphia R/C office pre-staged trucks to prepare for Winter Storm
Jonas' flurry. Crew members included Jose Carradero, John Gehringer, Damien
Glass, Steve Grose, Mike Martin, Robert O'Rourke, Jason Parker and Jason Rizzo.
NASA's satellite image of Winter Storm Jonas
shows how the storm blanketed the U.S.
Mid-Atlantic region. Image Credit: NASA
Goddard Rapid Response
Davey crews managed Winter Storm Jonas'
relentless snow in the East and Mid-Atlantic
territories. Photo Courtesy: Andres Kishimoto
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