Davey Tree Flipbooks

4 THE DAVEY BULLETIN | March/April 2022 Q. WHY IS DAVEY PLANNING A STOCK SUBSCRIPTION, AND WHY SHOULD I CONSIDER TAKING PART? match and ESPP 15% discount are great Davey benefits and essentially "free money" for any employee who wishes to commit to saving for their future. But a stock subscription is the one singular way that we can give employees an opportunity, for a 10 percent down payment, to finance at the lowest allowable interest rate, the purchase of sizeable amounts of shares and pay it off over a seven-year period. Subscriptions only come along about once a decade. The company always tries to make it an exciting and rewarding experience. Stock rights are commonly associated with it, which is basically an option, at some point in the future, to buy additional shares of stock at the share price existing at the time of the subscription offering. This has had a tremendous value in the past, as the stock has historically appreciated and the value of that right has proven significant, which makes the exercising of the rights an immediate wealth generator for the employee. A stock subscription also helps strengthen our employee-ownership culture at Davey. Employees who subscribe are making a conscious decision to put money down and make a commitment to our company and employee ownership. That offers a unique moment to bond as employee-owners. I personally saw value in the subscriptions I took part in as part A. In my personal experience with the stock subscriptions in 2002 and 2012, they were both events that made me feel more aligned with the company, fellow employees, and employee ownership. Coming shortly after a very difficult SAP implementation in the early 2000s and then as we were coming out of the Great Recession, in 2009, the stock subscriptions allowed us to rally around the idea of employee ownership and celebrate the company's resilience and successes, while investing in ourselves and our personal future financial well-being. Employees get excited about stock subscriptions. There is enthusiasm for it. Employee ownership becomes front-of-mind and it is a way to support our belief in the employee-ownership business model. There really is a kind of "we are all in this together" feeling generated by a stock subscription that you don't experience as strongly through the other ways we offer stock. We do have several ways of making stock available to employees that are financially beneficial. I always recommend the 401KSOP and encourage employees to try to contribute at least 5% of their pay so that they receive the full benefit of the company's 4% match, which is in Davey stock, while they save for retirement. The Employee Stock Purchase Program (ESPP) is always a great opportunity for however much employees can set aside, via payroll deduction, to accumulate shares while getting a 15% discount off the current market value. Both the 401KSOP of my retirement plans and the way I wanted to fund my future. I also get tremendous satisfaction in committing to a cause and being part of a team. Every person is different, but I am personally motivated by that and participating in a subscription made me feel that way. I'm committed. I'm engaged. I'm onboard. I'm part of the team. This year's subscription offers that rare moment where we can collectively show our commitment to the company and continue to plan for our personal financial futures. For all those reasons, I encourage all employees who are eligible to consider taking part in the stock subscription this August. Turn to page 29 for more details. Pat Covey Davey Chairman, President and CEO ASK THE CEO

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