Davey Tree Flipbooks

21 20 Growth Rings Chapter 1 After this, chainsaws enjoyed brief popularity as a common retirement gift for retiring executives. Stability and Expansion Despite Another Change in Leadership In search of a president, the Davey board of directors turned to a familiar face. ey elected Alexander M. Smith again, only this time Smith left his post as vice president for Lamson & Sessions to serve Davey Tree full-time. In his letter to employees, Smith credited Hershey with leaving the company in excellent condition – yearly revenue had grown 24 percent from 1965 to 1968 – as he certainly looked to continue that success. "Under [Hershey's] leadership the company has reached record sales and stability; the organization has been strengthened; there has been a substantial increase in the number of trucks, aerial basket units, and cranes to provide field men with the most modern equipment available; and new shops and warehouses back them up," Smith wrote. With a change in executive leadership, the company fell back on the strength of its field managers again. When Smith reassumed the presidency, the division managers of Davey Tree included: Merle J. Talbot, southwestern division; Charles W. Frederick, north-central division; Austin E. Schneider, vice president and Chicago division manager; Leroy "Roy" M. Ferry, northeastern division; Frank T. Groves, upstate New York division; and Edward K. Shuford, southeastern division. Division managers were typically in charge of overall management of all company activities within their region, including sales, field, and supervision. All of these division managers were long-time Davey employees, such as Talbot, who had 17 years of service, or Ferry, who'd started with Davey in 1940 and graduated from D.I.T.S. in 1947. In the home office, division managers were backed up by similarly experienced executive leaders, including: Bert D. Stamp, vice president and field director; John W. Joy, vice president of sales; William A. Jeffers, vice president, research and technical development; James H. Pohl, vice president and treasurer; and Wallace N. Emerson, vice president, supervision. All combined, these employees accounted for several hundred years of Davey service. e story remained the same further down the ranks. at year saw William F. Heim assigned to utility sales representative in West Virginia, managing contracts for utility clients in both West Virginia and his home state of Pennsylvania. Heim had spent most of his career working utility line clearance, having started out as a ground- person and eventually becoming a foreman. After a severe back injury, he moved to the Kent office and later started bidding and negotiating large utility contracts and union contracts for crews working utility accounts. In 1968, Heim had 17 years of service and was on his way to a long and fruitful Davey career. Gene Efird was promoted from general foreman to supervisor under Shuford in 1968 working in the Carolinas, and Gene Riddle, whose Davey career started in 1951, was promoted to general foreman in the Idaho, Montana, and Utah territory of John D. Marria. In 1968 company management forecast continued success for 1969, and they were right. Total sales increased by approximately 16 percent. Sadly, some of that profit was due to the necessary removal of thousands of elm trees infected with Dutch elm disease. In Saratoga Springs, New York, Davey crews removed 75 dead elm trees along city streets on a single contract. Similar scenes played out all across New York, Ohio, and Michigan. In 1969, America's first-place finish in the race to the moon had a little help from Davey Tree. Davey crews on the West Coast were contracted by North American Aviation to prune the trees along the route from Port Hueneme, California, up to e new Kent Shop gleams shortly after construction in 1968. Davey built the facility to service its rapidly expanding equipment fleet. After several additions, the Kent Shop remains the company's largest shop facility. Inset: Delbert Tunks, a long-time Davey employee, poses with a new truck at about the same time as the opening of the Kent Shop. In 1967, Davey provided a Christmas tree for the White House. Davey partnered with Cowan Bros. Nursery, located in Streetsboro, Ohio, just north of the corporate office, the American Tree Farm System and Ohio Christmas Tree Growers Association to find and deliver the Colorado blue spruce that was selected. e 18-foot tree was placed and decorated in the White House Blue Room for the 1967 holiday season. Preparing to transport the tree are, from left, foreman Garner Patterson with Roger Hayes and Tim McTighe. Davey leadership gathered around the company board room in Kent for a division managers' meeting in 1969. From left are Alexander M. Smith, president and general manager; Bert D. Stamp, vice president and field director; Merle J. Talbot, southwestern division manager; John "Jack" W. Joy, vice president, sales; William A. Jeffers, vice president, research and technical development; Charles W. Frederick, north-central division manager; Austin E. Schneider, vice president and Chicago division manager; Leroy M. Ferry, northeastern division manager; James H. Pohl, vice president and treasurer; Frank T. Groves, upstate New York division manager; Edward K. Shuford, southeastern division manager; Martin L. Davey, Jr., chairman of the board. Davey crews worked at Arlington National Cemetery in 1968 on a massive tree planting and transplanting project. More than 1,700 large trees were bought, transported and planted at the cemetery as part of a massive makeover, which was in addition to the work at the J.F.K. gravesite. Although this image is from the 1930s, the use of a Davey-designed "No. 2" mover, and the methods of large tree moving, were fairly unchanged and continued well into the 1960s.

• Cover