127 126 Growth Rings
Growing Leadership and Service Lines
Several substantial corporate moves came in the 2000s that aligned with the continual
succession planning first emphasized by the employees soon after the acquisition.
In 2005, Pat Covey was appointed vice president and general manager of Davey
Resource Group. Since joining Davey in 1991, Covey had transferred from internal
auditor in 1993 to eastern utility operations, where he served in the department's
administrative group. Covey was promoted in 1996 to administrative manager for
Eastern Utility. He served as a team lead for the SAP implementation project and
managed the Systems and Process group from 2000 until 2003. Covey returned to
Eastern Utility in 2003 when he was promoted to vice president, southern operations,
where he worked under Steve Marshall, then vice president and general manager.
is latest move to DRG further exposed Covey to the various facets of Davey oper-
ations. According to Karl Warnke, this was part of a designed, long-term approach
to broaden Covey's management experience and prepare him to potentially serve in
the CEO role.
"It was his attitude," Warnke recalled in 2017. "He was willing to do anything.
I don't think he knew what his limitations were, what his strengths and weaknesses
8
Succession, Acquisitions
and a Recession
(2005–2009)
Chapter 8
A Davey crew works for a utility client
in Alabama in 2005.
