Davey Tree Flipbooks

17 16 Growth Rings Chapter 1 president. Just like Riddle, he had to travel a lot for work. "I would fly my airplane to Houston, New Orleans, Denver, Boise, and Salt Lake City," Talbot said in a July 2000 interview. "When you cover half the country, you have to take all the shortcuts you can. Sometimes you were going to some out-of-the-way place, and you would land wherever an airport was available." In 1963 the company bought a 30-acre farm in Shalersville, Ohio, about 12 miles northeast of Kent, to use exclusively for research purposes. e farm let Davey scien- tists plan long-term experiments without the tests ever being interrupted because the land or the trees were needed for other uses. White birch trees were planted to test control methods for leaf miner. Bechtel crabapples were planted to study fungal leaf diseases. Pin oak, sugar maple, and sweetgum trees were planted for soil improve- ment research. Fertilization, mulching, and tree moving methods were all carefully examined at the new research farm along with turf grass pesticide and fertilizing treatments. at first year, the research farm drew horticulture, arboriculture, and plant pathol- ogy experts from across the country, and the attention only continued to grow. Davey management viewed this as beneficial in two ways. Davey's technical staff benefitted from regular collaboration with academics and industry professionals studying simi- lar issues. Besides, such collaborative efforts furthered the company's reputation as a leader in tree care science. During the 1960s the Davey Company, like many firms, enjoyed steady revenue and market increases as the U.S. economy continued to ride the wave of the post- WWII boom. "Projected national figures indicate that consumer spending will be up some 10 percent in 1964, while utility distribution and transmission spending for maintenance and new construction will jump about 17 percent," executive manage- ment noted in the company's 1963 annual report. e following year's report sounded similar. "Economists are predicting that the first part of 1965 will be a continuation of what has been the greatest era of prosperity the United States has ever seen," the 1964 report states. "And by prudent management the Davey Company intends to do its part in making this prediction become reality." Management continued investing in the company, and in 1962 Davey bought a 150-acre farm in Wooster, Ohio, to start the Davey Nursery. Close to 1,000 trees were planted in 1963. e new tree farm would make plantings available for the company's myriad residential and commercial landscape jobs. en-president Alexander Smith described the nursery as just one of many "new twigs appearing on the Davey tree." Today, the Davey Nursery's acreage is more than 300, and its inventory numbers are above 90,000. e Presidency of the First 'Outsider' Successes such as the Glen Canyon Dam and John Deere landscape design were enjoyed during Smith's presidency, but Smith essentially only served as president in-absentia. ree years after electing Smith, the Davey board of directors realized the company demanded a full-time, on-the-scene president. In 1965 they elected Paul G. Hershey to fill that role. is was the first time in company history that the president was not directly related to the Davey family. Unlike Smith, Hershey had extensive Davey field experience. Hershey graduated from D.I.T.S. in the 1920s and had worked as a supervisor for tree care, tree moving, and utility line clearance during his career. Hershey had scrambled up trees to prune them. He'd spent years honing the very techniques the field crews employed daily. And, perhaps most importantly, Hershey knew how many men and pieces of equip- ment it took to get a job done efficiently and effectively. Previously, Hershey had reported directly to Brub Davey, and his responsibilities included general admin- istration of field operations, which were field operational policies, wage schedules, equipment, shops, warehouses, labor relations and overseeing sales and supervisors – virtually every aspect of company operations. Well-liked, trusted and respected for his fairness and discipline, Hershey received a solid vote of confidence from company management as well as field managers throughout Davey operations. His knowledge of field work likely proved essential. Recent advances in mechanization throughout the tree care industry meant the company had to figure out how to deal with scheduling equipment and managing Davey bought this farm in Shalersville, Ohio, in 1963 to provide space for research purposes. e 30-acre farm soon became a hub of research activity, drawing experts from across the arboriculture industry and academic institutions. DA-V-GREEN, an improved lawn fertilizer, was a new product introduced in 1962. With the advent of DA-V-GREEN, sales representatives were in a better position to embark on a lawn care and feeding program to benefit the client, the sales representative and the company. Here Davey employees Pete Byers, left, and Jack Wikle discuss the new lawn fertilizer in 1963. An aerial image of the Davey Nursery in the 1980s (inset). Davey founded the nursery in Wooster, Ohio, in 1965 on just 150 acres. Today it spans 300 acres. e Davey Company board of directors elected Paul Hershey president in 1965. His election was groundbreaking. He was the first president of the company who was not tied to the Davey family by blood or marriage. Hershey started his career with Davey in 1926.

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