Davey Tree Flipbooks

4 THE DAVEY BULLETIN | November/December 2025 ASK THE CEO employee ownership, and I am thankful for the leaders here who strive to keep it that way. Growing up in the Midwest in a rural community, my parents taught me to appreciate and respect nature. "Leave it better than how you found it," was a common directive when we were outdoors. As a business, we thankfully have thousands of people who want to work outdoors, who want to work with trees, turf and wetlands, and by their nature have a desire to be part of something that matters, that is beneficial to society, and who seek to "leave it better than they found it." I believe that if a young person is charting a career path entering this industry, he or she is likely looking at it from the perspective of someone who appreciates nature and all its benefits, wants a stable, growth-orientated organization, and wants a company that has purpose. So, the fact that we get to be stewards of the natural world here at Davey, a place dedicated to developing your career, a company with purpose, with an ownership structure that provides opportunities for financial stability and investment to ALL employees – that is an enticing package deal for most. When it comes to employee ownership at Davey, I'm grateful that we've created a culture where we can dream big and build places like the SEED Campus to invest in our employees' careers, maintain our commitment to our values and our "do it right or not at all" mentality, and yet keep our financial planning and performance stable and strategic. By giving us the freedom to consider employees, clients and shareholders equally in our decision making, we are much more likely to be able to continue providing these kinds of career and economic opportunities for generations of Davey employees yet to come. A. Davey has always been an amazing place for me, so there are so many things that I am personally thankful for. But, over the course of my 34 years, I have become progressively more thankful for employee ownership. Employee ownership affords us the ability to chart our own path, to make the investments that matter, and to do the things that give back to our employees and focus on the initiatives that support our value statements. This is not the situation in all companies, and, in fact, it is more the exception. In the case of publicly traded companies, or companies that have large, majority private equity investors, the demands, expectations and timelines that they operate from due to outside investor influences can create tremendous incentives for leaders to deviate from a company's long-term strategy at the expense of culture and stated values. What makes Davey different? I believe a culture with a value system, rooted in employee ownership makes us different. Because, while we are a competitive group and have a fierce drive to win and be successful, we also know that there are many definitions and nuances to "winning," and in our case, that definition includes, and is dependent on, a responsible, long-term obligation to our employees, clients and shareholders. Over the years Davey has done an excellent job of hiring and promoting people into management roles who support our employee-ownership strategy. That has been crucial in helping us stick to the foundations of our employee- ownership culture and ensure it is at the core of everything we do. "Culture eats strategy for breakfast" is something I strongly believe in, and employee ownership provides the fuel for this energy at Davey. We are an attractive place to work because of our culture. Our culture is rooted in Q. WHY ARE YOU THANKFUL FOR OUR EMPLOYEE OWNERSHIP MODEL HERE AT DAVEY? Pat Covey Davey Chairman, President and CEO

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