Davey Tree Flipbooks

January/February 2016 | 21 SPOTLIGHT IN THE Joseph Williams speed-climbed, aerial-rescued and throw-lined his way to first place at the Tennessee Tree Climbing Championship held at the Memphis Botanic Garden last October. Williams, foreman at the Nashville R/C office, out-climbed 18 other competitors in five different events, which qualified him to compete at the International Society of Arboriculture (ISA) Southern Chapter Tree Climbing Championship this March. "Ever since the first tree I climbed, I've felt such an adrenaline rush when climbing trees," Williams says. "Now, I realize there is an art and science to it, with so many variables." He looks forward to future competitions. Sandra Reid has earned her Communication Management Professional (CMP) certification, which is the first of four planned certifications that represent various career levels of the communication profession. The International Association of Business Communicators (IABC)'s Global Communication Certification Council developed the CMP program. The certification recognizes professional communicators who meet the IABC-developed Global Standard. "The CMP designation was a personal goal for me," Reid says. "I used this process as a benchmark to test myself against an industry standard. I'm driven by the idea that there's always a better way." Bob Meoak received the President's Award for Outstanding Contributions to Urban Forestry in Tennessee at the 24th annual Tennessee Urban Forestry Conference. "I was surprised, humbled and honored by the award," Meoak says. "There are a lot of talented arborists in Tennessee, so to receive the President's award was very humbling." Meoak, district manager at the Cincinnati R/C office, was unable to attend the conference because he recently moved to Ohio from Tennessee, where he was district manager at the Nashville R/C office. Meoak was very surprised when he received the plaque in the mail from the current district manager at the Nashville R/C office, Scott Johnson. Todd Kurena and John Kazee earned a Merit Award from the National Association of Landscape Professionals (NALP) Award of Excellence Program for their crews' continuous maintenance at Polaris Founders Park in Columbus, Ohio, one of the newer properties Davey maintains for Polaris Center of Commerce, a 20-plus-year Davey client. This was the first year Davey submitted the project to NALP. Kurena's hardworking crew includes Juan Alvarado Aguilar, Chad Bogner, Julian Reyes Mendoza, Otis Ratliff and Martin Perez Solis. "The award definitely builds the morale of the guys that their hard work is being recognized," Kurena says. Andy Hillman was chosen to be the keynote speaker at the fourth annual Vermont Tree Stewards Conference in October. Hillman, a regional business developer for Davey Resource Group, completed a two-part presentation. "I discussed solutions to the problems trees face in urban conditions, and how to plant trees the correct way, according to the national standards that Davey helped create," Hillman says. Hillman's presentation encouraged more than 45 conference attendees to properly care for their urban trees and foster more vibrant communities in Vermont and beyond. Congratulations on receiving so much positive feedback, Andy! Shaun Barber, foreman on the National Grid account, smiles after completing the removal of a hazardous tree after a severe thunderstorm rolled through Rhode Island. General Foreman Randy Borders took Barber's photo to mark the start of National Grid's enhancement of its hazard tree program.

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