Davey Tree Flipbooks

133 132 Growth Rings a lawn care technician before later serving as district manager of the Canton and then Charlotte R/C offices. His 1998 transition to Utility services saw him serve as regional manager, Mid-Atlantic, before heading up the southern utility operations. Claypool would eventually serve on the Davey President's Council. An important position in the administration area of the company was being filled as well. Davey hired a new treasurer, Joseph R. Paul, from outside the company to serve under Dave Adante. Paul joined Davey with a quarter century of corporate financial experience. Additionally, Brent Repenning, who was also a noted prospect for a future leadership role, was promoted to regional operations manager for asset management services within Davey Resource Group. is move accelerated his career arc, setting him on a path to become general manager of DRG, and further laid the groundwork for the next era of Davey management. Critical Years: Recession and Acquisitions Warnke's promotion coincided with significant business challenges for Davey. His second full year as president and CEO would see the U.S. struggling with the effects of the Great Recession, which started in December 2007 and proved the longest and deepest economic downturn since the Great Depression of the 1930s, when Davey Tree nearly went under. Regular grade gasoline prices shot up, on average, over $3 per gallon across the U.S. in 2008. High fuel prices hampered businesses around the globe. Davey, with its thousands of trucks and pieces of gas-powered equipment, was not immune to the effects of rising fuel costs. Many businesses elected to freeze capital expenditures and reduce overhead and other operating expenses. Wages and people were cut significantly. U.S. unemployment peaked at 10 percent in October 2009. Major market indexes dropped 30 percent to 40 percent within a week. More than 170,000 small businesses in the U.S. closed between 2008 and 2010, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. However, from a revenue standpoint, 2008 was a record-breaking year for the Davey Company, as the bottom line had been bolstered by the two largest acqui- sitions in company history along with three smaller acquisitions that same year. In June, the Davey Company merged with e Care of Trees (TCOT), which was centered primarily in the Chicago area but operated in 11 states. TCOT provided tree care services for more than 60,000 residential and commercial customers with nearly 500 employees and annualized revenue of $50 million. is was the third-largest residential tree care company in North America and was owned by John Hendricksen, a long-time leader within the arboriculture industry. "is merger gives us the chance to take the best practices of both companies across North America," Hendricksen said in 2008. "It was a pleasure working with John during this process," Karl Warnke recalled in 2019. "He is a person with great integrity who has very similar values and respect for his employees. His drive, business acumen and industry knowledge has made his company a major success." Hendricksen would later become an ambassador for Davey by encouraging other tree care companies interested in joining a larger brand to consider joining the Davey family. Davey also acquired Wolf Tree, a tree care company specializing in utility line clearance based in Knoxville, Tennessee. Wolf Tree had 700 employees working in 13 states with an annualized revenue of more than $40 million. Ironically, Wolf Tree had been founded by Jacob Wolf, who had been a foreman at Davey Tree in the 1920s before starting his own company. His grandson, Tom Wolf, would eventually serve as president before joining Davey. Tom Wolf displayed the special qualities of integrity and a passion for his employees, which he found very important in his business partners too. "We were attracted to Davey because of the company's reputation," Tom Wolf said in 2008. "We know that Davey looks after its employees." Wolf would later become vice president of client relations, utility services, before being named vice president for sales and client relations for Davey Resource Group utility vegetation management. Chapter 8 Brent Repenning was named a regional operations manager for asset management services within Davey Resource Group in the mid-2000s. He was named vice president and general manager of Davey Resource Group in 2010, and in 2016 he was promoted to senior vice president of Davey Resource Group and Eastern Utility operations. Greg Ina listens during a research presentation at the Davey Institute. Ina was named general manager of the Davey Institute in 2007. e Great Recession saw fuel costs skyrocket across the globe. Record-high gasoline and diesel prices were of particular concern for Davey personnel, who operate tens of thousands of pieces of gas-powered equipment. Here, a convoy of Davey trucks prepares for the emergency response to Hurricane Ike in September 2008. Tom Wolf inspects a utility right-of-way in 2013. Davey acquired Wolf Tree, founded by Tom Wolf 's grandfather Jacob Wolf, in 2008. Jacob Wolf had once worked for Davey Tree in the 1920s. By the mid-2000s Davey's residential services enjoyed strong demand. But like all service lines, residential operations revenue trended down during the recession in 2009.

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