Davey Tree Flipbooks

C onsidering Luther Sanderson tried several times to become a Davey employee— even before he became of legal employment age—perhaps it's fitting he hasn't left since he finally landed a job with the company. That was 50 years ago. But for Sanderson, the length of time doesn't affect his passion for the work he does every day. "I still love my job," he says. Sanderson, supervisor on the Jones-Onslow account, didn't have any experience with tree maintenance or tree removal equipment before he asked Davey for a job. He was just so inspired by the Davey crewmembers he noticed working near a local service station when he was only 16, he so eagerly wanted to learn more. "I watched them work and had never seen anyone do things like that," Sanderson says. "I wanted to work at Davey so bad." He filled out an application on his 18th birthday. Soon enough, as promised, Davey's R.L. Keggereis called Sanderson once a position opened. Sanderson was hired as a groundman on the Carolina Power & Light (CP&L) account on March 8, 1965. In less than two months, Sanderson went out on a limb—literally—and began climbing and trimming trees. "The first time I climbed, they had to 'shoo' me up the tree," Sanderson says with a laugh. "Until I could sit back, relax and swing around a bit, climbing didn't come natural." But within his first six months at Davey, Sanderson was promoted to foreman on the CP&L account. He then spent more than 20 years building up Davey's workforce in his service area, which led to his next promotion to general foreman in 1991. A little more than one year later, Sanderson became supervisor, a position he held on the CP&L account for nearly 10 years. Sanderson has been a supervisor on the Jones-Onslow account since February 2001. But for him, all aspects of his job are still interesting. Every challenge is welcomed; each day is a new day. "You never cut the same tree twice," Sanderson says. "You can always find some- thing new to learn every day. These are the things I tell my crews to pump them up— and to pump up myself." Doug Bour, operations manager for the Mid-Atlantic utility region, has worked with Sanderson in some capacity for the past 15 years. "I was always impressed with how he could communicate bid information to me," Bour says. Sanderson is also an employee ownership advocate, even though he didn't begin purchasing stock until the early 1990s. Bour says Sanderson—an "excellent ambassador for Davey"—is always promoting employee ownership on his crewmembers. The Golden Anniversary of a Davey Career "I tell my crews the benefits of employee ownership," Sanderson says. "I talk about it from day one; I don't want them to miss that opportunity." Bour says Sanderson once presented to Wolf Tree employees about employee owner- ship after the acquisition. "It was important to have a field employee share what employee ownership at Davey means to him," Bour explains. "Luther has the respect of everyone I've ever met and talked to about him, from the groundman who has worked with Luther for six months to vice presidents at the corporate office." But what about Sanderson strikes Bour the most? "What always struck me is his integrity," Bour says. "He demands a lot from his crews and helps them retain that, but also he expects the same demands from himself." According to Davey Chairman, President and CEO Karl Warnke, Luther has been through the best of times and some of the worst of times during his extensive, 50-year career with Davey. "Through individual effort and unrelenting persistence, Luther has played a major role in our growing success in the southeast utility market," Warnke says. "He clearly represents all the values this company was founded on and always has led with sincere passion for his people, the company and for the clients he services. After 50 years, the best news about Luther is 'he's as good as he ever was!'" Over the years, Sanderson has enjoyed drag racing, golf and softball outside of field operations at Davey. And despite his interests in outdoor recreation, Sanderson doesn't regret a day of his Davey career. In fact, he hates the thought of doing something else. As Sanderson, dubbed the "Tree Man" by his peers, says: "I love where I'm at; I love what I do." Luther Sanderson Jones Onslow account March/April 2015 | 23 5 0 Y E A R S O F S E R V I C E

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