Davey Tree Flipbooks

89 88 Growth Rings employee-owned company, particularly the importance of employees in the company and how it should be run. I think that was probably one of the most positive aspects he brought to the job." Cowan's desire to gain the support of field personnel led to the development of one of the Davey Company's long-standing traditions for company management. In 1988, when Cowan was elected chief executive officer by the board, he estab- lished the Davey President's Council. e council consisted of 11 of Davey's best field managers. e council's purpose was threefold. First, the council spotlight gave company-wide recognition to Davey's best managers. Second, it provided a forum for these managers to meet periodically with the president and other members of top management to discuss company goals, strategies, and policies. ird, serving on the council promoted intracompany understanding, communication, and cooperation. e president's council charter members were: Larry Abernathy, account manager, San Diego Gas & Electric; Gary Backus, district manager of the Washington, D.C., R/C office; John Dingus, district manager of the Virginia R/C office; Dave Handt, account manager, Pacific Gas & Electric's Redwood Region; Murray Linton, district manager of the Toronto, Ontario, R/C office; Steve Marshall, district manager of the Akron R/C office; Bob Poe, Colorado/Texas accounts manager; Jim Stief, operations manager for the R/C section of the Davey Tree Surgery Company; Mark Vaughn, New England accounts manager; Barry Weidner, manager of the Wooster Tree Nursery; and Earl Williams, account manager on the Carolina Power and Light utility account. As they do today, council members served a three-year term. Steve Marshall, who retired in 2017 as executive vice president, said the fact the council has persisted for nearly 30 years demonstrates the value in providing a broader perspective of the Davey Company to its top managers. "Many scoffed at it initially," Marshall said in a 2016 interview. "Our field management can tend to operate in smaller circles within their given locations. e president's council is one way they're given an opportunity to separate urban myth from reality and understand Davey truths. Often they discover the challenges are rather similar in all our service lines." For Cowan, the council aided his leadership transition by garnering support among the operations managers, and it helped him get to know the company's opinion- makers. "As president, […] I had operations reporting to me, and these guys all knew I knew nothing about operations. So, we were all feeling our way along," Cowan said. "I did not make wholesale changes to the management group, so I had to figure out how to win over the managers I inherited and get their allegiance. For the most part, I did. But it took several years." Focus on Pesticides – A Growing Concern During the 1980s, public concern over pesticide manufacture, sale, registration, label- ing, and application grew following reports linking cancer and other health problems in children to pesticide residues in fruits and vegetables. e first federal legislation governing pesticides had been passed in 1910, and in 1947 the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (FIFRA) expanded regulations further. But pesticide governance shifted substantially in the 1970s with regulatory oversight moving to the newly created Environmental Protection Agency, resulting in a complete revision of FIFRA in 1972, substantial revisions in 1978, and additional changes in 1988. e regulations largely addressed pesticides used to treat food products in the U.S., but the types of products applied to trees, lawns, and other landscape plants were also regulated. As a result, management at Davey carefully monitored public sentiment and governmental regulations regarding pesticides. rough careful, extensive training, the Human and Technical Resources Center taught Davey employees how to scrutinize each pesticide application delivered using the Davey Customizer. e Customizer, first patented in 1985, was used primarily in lawn care. It was a metering device that fed pesticides into the spray line upon demand. e lawn technician could control the input of pesticides, thereby allowing for application to portions of a lawn without treating the entire lawn. e Customizer also featured a redesigned spray head to allow for a more controlled application. Davey employees could determine precisely when and how much pesticide was applied, allowing them to customize each appli- cation to maximize efficiency. e goal was to use the applications responsibly, at the right time of year and in the lowest effective dose to reduce overall pesticide use. Davey's overall goal was to maintain healthy trees and plants, but pesticide regulation and perception figured prominently in the development of services and products. e research and development staff at Davey's Human and Technical Resources Center, led by Roger Funk, officially introduced the Davey plant health care program to field employees in 1987 with two week-long seminars held in Kent for 54 employees. e seminars were followed by many similar training sessions. Davey's plant health care included a variety of concepts. Primarily, it started with selection of trees and plants best suited for the site conditions, soil, climate, and other factors. at included proper planting procedures to ensure rapid establishment. It followed with healthy maintenance practices, including pruning, fertilization, soil conditioning, and pest management. Pesticides were used in limited quantities on an "as-prescribed" basis. A resulting reduction in pesticide use would increase environ- mental, client, and employee safety. In February 1988, Davey hosted a press conference at the Cleveland Home and Flower Show to announce plans to reduce pesticide use by as much as 80 percent in Chapter 5 rough careful research, Davey developed equipment and techniques to stay on the forefront of environmental protection in the 1980s. Davey developed a metering device (pictured inset) to create an instant on/off for injecting herbicide during lawn treatments for safer, more efficient applications. e metering device paired with Davey's patented Customizer spray system (main image) to further reduce pesticide use.

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