Davey Tree Flipbooks

9 July/August 2026 | THE DAVEY BULLETIN Get to Know... Michael Skidgel When did you start at Davey and what are your current responsibilities? I started at Davey in September 2021 as a senior level irrigation manager, overseeing a subcontractor at the Valencia Lakes, Commercial Landscape Services (CLS) project. Within a couple of months, the board decided that they no longer wanted a subcontractor, and we would have to build our own irrigation service and repair team for the site. We did this and renewed the Valencia Lakes contract, and I was promoted to branch manager. I later joined the Davey Institute for water management, then I moved over with that same water management team to Davey Resource Group. My responsibilities now include irrigation project assessments, project management, business development, CAD work and training. What are some other projects you are most proud of? I have been fortunate enough to work with some amazing sites for our client, Service Corporation International (SCI). I was in a support role on these. The great thing about our large cemetery projects with SCI is the fact that they are retrofi ts and not complete redo's. It takes a lot of knowledge and experience to keep major components in place and re-design as needed. I now have two projects at home- owner association sites in Sarasota, Florida, that will provide work for years. Who is someone at Davey who has had a big impact on your career? Paul Kovacik (area manager) – he hired me for Valencia Lakes and again at the Davey Institute. We have had a great relationship and share the same passion for water. The entire water management team also shares this passion. Andrew Chase (senior associate consultant) is the brains, and Jason McIntrye (associate consultant) and Derek Wells (associate consultant) are the brawn. A lot of accumulated knowledge and experience serves us very well. What is your favorite music genre? At my age, I mostly listen to country music. In my younger years, it was a lot of blues and rockabil- ly. I lived for years with a drummer whose band played in a lot of small clubs in the Washington, D.C., area. What is a hidden talent of yours? I loved coaching youth football. I did it for 20-some years in Northen Virginia, coaching mostly the 9-to-11-year-old group. It's a great age because they need to learn about football contact and are smart enough to be very inventive. Michael Skidgel senior associate con- sultant, Environmental Consulting, Davey Resource Group URBAN TREE WORK MEETS SPORTS FUN IN OTTAWA As a season-ticket holder for the Ottawa Redblacks profes- sional Canadian football team, Ian Laidlaw, district manager, Ottawa offi ce, Davey Tree Expert Co. of Canada, Limited, combines his pride for his city's team while showing off his crew's work to thousands of fans passing through the stadium district. In the urban area surrounding Lansdowne Park and TD Place, an Ottawa arena featuring sports and entertainment events, the Ottawa team performs plant health care and pruning services. There are elms in tree wells that are trimmed, a small apple orchard pruned to help keep trees disease-free and deadwood and any hazardous branches are removed from trees around the area. The team also fertilizes all trees on the entire property, and Davey Resource Group Canada is also helping complete an updated tree inventory around the venue this year. They also conduct tree assessments annually as part of ongoing maintenance of the Lansdowne commercial property. "What makes working at Lansdowne Park and TD Place unique is the high-visibility urban tree care paired with the complex process of maintaining trees in such a busy public space," Bethany Page-Piquette, foreman, Ottawa offi ce, Dav- ey Canada, said. "It's such a prominent area in Ottawa, so the work must be done with a strong focus on public safety, appearance and timing." Ottawa offi ce crews work on trees throughout the busy urban area surrounding TD Place, an arena in Ottawa home to local and professional sports teams, various concerts and plenty of other entertainment.

• Cover