27 26 Growth Rings Chapter 2
Smooth Sailing
From an operational standpoint, the start of the 1970s proved to be smooth sail-
ing for Davey Tree – just as executive leaders had predicted. In 1970, for the first
time, Davey Tree incorporated the Californian Davey Tree Surgery Company and
e Davey Tree Expert Company of Canada, Ltd. into its financial reporting. Davey
Canada, while representing a small portion of sales, had a significant history starting
in 1911, which helped bolster Davey's credibility and reputation across the continent.
Combining revenue from the surgery company and Canada with the Kent company
meant total revenue grew by $4.9 million, a whopping 19 percent, to $25.7 million.
e increase was considerable when compared with the 1969 total revenue figure
of $20.8 million for the Kent company. Moreover, Davey Tree Surgery put a pin in
Hawaii on the map of Davey operating locations, with the addition of a new utility
maintenance contract in the Aloha state.
Ingenuity and a drive to provide excellent client experience led Davey's utility
services to unveil yet another new service based on recent technological advance-
ments. In 1970 Davey rolled out its first infrared inspection vehicles. ese vehicles,
typically vans, contained infrared scanning equipment coupled with a camera. Davey
operators used this hybrid camera system to scan a client's utility infrastructure in
order to pinpoint a system weakness as part of preventative maintenance. Davey
could help utility clients replace equipment before it failed by detecting and isolating
overheated, failing electrical components in substations and transmission and distri-
bution facilities. e new service further diversified the company's service offerings
for its utility clients.
Davey's commercial operations started a massive landscaping project at the new
2
A New Direction
(1970 –1977)
Davey introduced a new service for utility
clients in 1971 – infrared inspection of power
lines and substations to detect incipient failures.
Davey's infrared inspection van used special
"thermovision" camera equipment to scan utility
infrastructure and detect failing equipment.
Davey planted thousands of trees, shrubs,
annuals and perennials and installed acres
of sod for the new Sea World of Aurora in
Aurora, Ohio, in 1970. is ad touting the
work appeared in the October 1970 issue
of Landscape Architecture magazine.
