Davey Tree Flipbooks

30 THE DAVEY BULLETIN | January/February 2022 MEMORIAL PAST CHAIRMAN, CEO DOUG COWAN PLAYED ESSENTIAL ROLE IN DAVEY EMPLOYEE OWNERSHIP Davey employees lost a champion of employee ownership with the passing of R. Douglas Cowan, the last surviving member of the original employee-ownership committee that ensured the purchase of the company by the employees from the Davey family. Cowan passed away on Dec. 3, 2021, at the age of 80. Cowan retired as CEO in 2007 and later retired from the chairman of the board of directors position in 2009 following more than 34 years of service at Davey. He joined Davey in 1974 as corporate controller. Cowan had been brought on by then company president Joseph T. Myers, whose intent was to have Cowan oversee the process of transforming Davey from a family owned firm into a publicly traded company. Instead, Cowan became one of a three-person committee that included former president John W. (Jack) Joy and former senior executive vice president Jim Pohl. These three men helped negotiate and arrange the sale of Davey Tree from members of the Davey family to the employees in 1979, when Davey officially became employee-owned. "Above all else, Doug was just an amazing person," said Pat Covey, Davey Chairman, President and CEO. "It is difficult to overstate how impactful Doug was to the success of the Davey Company. From the purchase of the company from the Davey family, to the nurturing of the culture that makes us so unique, to the selection and development of the future leadership of the company, Doug was the ever-upbeat maestro. Always optimistic and quick with a laugh, Doug will forever occupy a special place in the hearts of the Davey employees who knew and loved him." Cowan was elected a director of the company in 1982. He was elected president and chief operating officer in 1985, and in 1988 Cowan was elected CEO. That same year, he founded the Davey President's Council. He was elected chairman of the board of directors in 1997. "Among the accomplishments I'm most proud of, first and foremost is the employee acquisition," Cowan said in a 2019 interview with Davey corporate communications. Cowan was one of the original 114 employees who took part in the first company stock subscription in 1979 that made the purchase of the company from the Davey family possible. Within Davey, Cowan was instrumental in the development of technology-based training and education programs through the Davey Institute. During Cowan's tenure, Davey operations grew substantially as revenues more than tripled and employment nearly doubled. During his career, Cowan emphasized succession planning and leadership development, encouraging a home-grown approach to developing Davey managers. "I think that our culture is way, way too important, and it's what makes this company better than everybody else out there," he said in 2019. "You have to think about it all the time, and a lot of companies, they don't do that. If I haven't passed anything else on, I hope I've passed that on. It's absolutely critical to the future that you prepare the next generations. In a company like Davey where the tone, temperament, and the focus on people is such a big deal, you've got to home grow your leadership." In addition to his work with Davey, Cowan served on the Board of Trustees of Kent State University and the Northeastern Ohio Universities College of Medicine (now Northeast Ohio Medical University), the Board of Directors of Lexicomp, Inc., The Great Lakes Construction Co., and The J.M. Smucker Co. Cowan also served as: past chairman of American Forests; was a member of the Business Advisory Council of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland; prior to the Kent State University Board of Trustees appointment, served as chairman of the Kent State University Foundation. He was a trustee of the Law Enforcement Foundation Board and Honorary Chair for the Portage County United Way. Doug Cowan

• Cover