Davey Tree Flipbooks

151 150 Growth Rings "It's their professional demeanor, passion for the company's people and our culture, and the absence of personal agendas that defines our board." Davey was recognized at the Ohio Employee Ownership Conference, where Warnke gave the keynote presentation summarizing Davey's employee ownership history. at year, Davey Tree ranked No. 17 on the National Center for Employee Ownership (NCEO) Top 100 list of employee-owned firms (after first appearing on the list in 2005). Davey would climb the ranks and rise to No. 9 in 2019, a position it maintained in 2020. Today, Davey is the largest employee-owned firm in Ohio. In 2014, the company promoted Jed Day to vice president and general manager for the Residential/Commercial service line. Day was responsible for sales and marketing activities in the newly created western operations, which comprised existing south- west and eastern operating groups as well as the eastern and western Chicago-based operations. A 1983 D.I.T.S. graduate and past Davey President's Council member, Day twice had earned the Davey Outstanding Manager award and had a long history in the residential service line. During his Davey career, Day had also amassed a considerable amount of experience in the Utility services operations. He spent seven years in the service line and earned numerous promotions from supervisor to account manager, operations coordinator and eventually area manager, overseeing crews in eight states. Day epitomized top management training and leadership development due to his experience in both of the company's two largest service lines. By 2014, Day had become a veteran of hurricane responses in both service lines. He also gained experience as a supervisor of the SAP conversion and test with the challenges of the 2000 recession. Yet another important succession move came in 2014 when Jack McCabe was promoted to vice president of operations for Davey Resource Group's utility vegetation management. McCabe joined the company in 1999 and quickly moved up the ranks of DRG in California and other western states. Management recognized McCabe's talent for developing relationships and trust, team building and expanding the Davey brand. His personal integrity and industry commitment further demon- strated his potential as a company leader. Meanwhile, two seasoned Canadian managers were also promoted that year and accepted additional responsibilities in the residential and utility services. John Arico was named regional vice president and primarily oversaw all residential operations in the east. Mark Turnbull was also named a regional vice president, but his duties encompassed a large portion of Canada's utility operations in the western provinces. ese promotions came amidst sweeping organizational changes andaccelerated growth for the Canada subsidiary. Along with many promotions, this period in company history brought several high-level retirements. Fred Johnson retired in 2014 as corporate vice president of operations. ough Johnson spent just 14 years at Davey, his accomplishments included developing and implementing long-range plans and budgets for the corporate support functions of safety, fleet and purchasing. Formerly employed by LESCO, a supplier of green industry products, Johnson became one of the Davey Company's most vocal supporters as an employee-owner. Gordon Ober retired in 2014 as vice president of personnel recruiting and devel- opment. His four-decade career involved a diverse number of Davey operations, including lawn care, new ventures, acquisitions and other responsibilities. Always wearing a broad smile, Ober had a willingness to take on any challenge and made Jed Day, right, and Phil Snyder during an event at Kent State University in 2014. Both men have served in key leadership roles in the Residential/Commercial service line. Jack McCabe was named vice president, operations, for DRG in 2014. Chapter 10 Karl Warnke retired as CEO of Davey Tree in 2017. Pat Covey Davey's board of directors in 2017 included: Donald Brown, retired executive vice president, administration, FedEx Freight. Dawson Cunningham, retired CFO, Roadway Corporation. William Ginn, retired executive vice president, e Nature Conservancy. Douglas Hall, retired president and CEO, MDA Federal, Inc. Sandra Harbrecht, president and CEO, Paul Werth Associate. John Warfel, retired president, Westfield Financial Corp Mike Nash, left, and John Arico, right, both standing, listen during a meeting at the Davey Institute. Arico was promoted to regional vice president, Canadian operations, in 2014, and Nash was promoted to vice president and general manager, Canada residential operations.

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