Davey Tree Flipbooks

131 130 Growth Rings continued to climb due, in part, to growth on existing contracts, new contracts, and increased productivity. And the resource group enjoyed substantial growth in revenue and operating profit thanks in part to growth in their utility-related services and contract work with the USDA. In 2006, sales and revenue were strong. Key managers were in place. is was when Doug Cowan thought it was time to transition away from the responsibilities of the CEO. "I thought the company was in great shape," Cowan recalled in a 2016 interview. "It was beginning to realize its full potential. And the next generation was ready to take over." He stepped down as chief executive officer after 32 years with Davey, and the board of directors elected Warnke CEO effective Jan. 1, 2007. Cowan remained chairman of the board. 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. He also played an important role as a member of the employee acquisition committee in 1979. "Among the accomplishments I'm most proud of, first and fore- most is the employee acquisition," he said. "One of the other highlights would be the formation of the Davey President's Council. e third thing I consider important was the formation of the Davey Resource Group. at is the future of the company, in my opinion." Following Cowan's retirement as CEO, his long-time administrative assistant Rosemary Nicholas retired in 2008. Nicholas built a 44-year career at Davey, much of which involved supporting the company's top executives, including Jim Pohl, Jack Joy, and Cowan. A John Davey Award earner, Nicholas was named assistant corpo- rate secretary in 1982. Having started in the stenographer's pool in 1964, Nicholas became the first woman to provide secretarial support for an individual department and the first woman of her generation to serve as a Davey officer. Nicholas credited her success to her fellow employees. "is is a great company with a wonderful past and an exciting, even more wonderful future," she said in 2008. Nicholas' successor as administrative assistant to the office of the CEO was Rachel Slippy, who started at Davey in 2000 in the administrative services depart- ment. Within three years she would be working with Karl Warnke as administrative assistant for the office of the president and chief operating officer – a role she would fill until Warnke's retirement as CEO in 2017. With Cowan serving as chairman and Warnke as president and CEO, several more important management promotions were made. Steve Marshall and Pat Covey were both promoted to executive vice president of operations with each having a large segment of the company's operations reporting to them. Marshall's career started in 1977 in Davey's lawn care services, where he found fast success as a manager. He gained additional experience as a proven leader in Residential/Commercial services as a district manager, a regional manager and eventually overseeing all Western R/C operations in California. While there, he worked closely with the utility operations of the Davey Tree Surgery Company headed by Howard Bowles, Larry Abernathy, and Larry Evans. Ultimately, Marshall returned to the corporate office in Kent to run all U.S. Utility operations and the support services of equipment and safety. Roger Funk was named vice president and chief technical officer. Greg Ina was promoted to general manager of the Davey Institute. Ina, who early in his career worked in GIS, played an important role in Davey's development of the i-Tree® suite of software products and urban forestry assessment tools in coordination with several industry partners in 2006. Ina had started with Davey in 1995 working in the field, gathering inventory data, but soon would advance to hold several different roles of increasing responsibility on his way to managing the Institute. Two years earlier, Harry Claypool was promoted to vice president of the southern operating group for Eastern Utility. A Davey employee since 1978, Claypool had worked in the utility service line since 1998. He had started in the Akron office as Chapter 8 Davey crews work in Oklahoma in 2007. John Hendricksen, right, speaks with Joe Paul, executive vice president, CFO and secretary, at the 2017 Davey Shareholders Meeting. Hendricksen merged his firm, e Care of Trees, with Davey Tree in 2008. Bill Whitmire, left, and Pat Covey, center, listen to a point being made during a management planning meeting in 2011. Doug Cowan and Karl Warnke at the 2014 Davey Shareholders Meeting.

• Cover