The Davey Tree Expert Company history

By 1890, he became known as the "treeman of the town." John Davey and his eldest son, Wellington, planted hundreds of trees along the streets and around homes in the community and performed a modest amount of tree work.

In the fall of 1908, John Davey and son Martin made two important decisions.

The business was incorporated as The Davey Tree Expert Company on February 4, 1909.

The company grew slowly at first, but this changed in 1911, when Davey contracted with the federal government to treat trees on the grounds of the United States Capitol Building.

The company started some of its most profitable ventures during the 1920s.

With the acquisition of a power rig, it began spraying in 1921.

His first year of leadership ended with sales volume reaching a new high of $3.94 million, $800,000 more than the previous high in 1929.

There’s science and technology being developed that’s really going to help clients maximize the potential of their landscape material.”Whitmire’s mother and two aunts worked in the Davey corporate office dating back to 1935.

In 1940, a new federal wage and hour law established a 42-hour work week for line clearing crews and required time and a half pay for overtime.

In 1946, shortly after Martin Davey, Jr. returned from war, Martin Sr. died of a heart attack.

As Davey expanded throughout the United States and its services diversified from tree surgery to utility line clearing, nursery, national landscaping, and lawn care services, it met the needs of customers on a geographic basis through regional management by 1974.

Pfleger, Robert E., Green Leaves: A History of The Davey Tree Expert Company, Chester, Conn.: Pequot Press, 1977.

The Davey Tree Expert Company remained in the Davey family until 1979, when employees purchased the business.

In 1988, the company announced that it would reduce its usage of pesticides and herbicides by 75 percent, or by 30,470 gallons.

Gangloff, Deborah, “The Davey Connection,” American Forests, July/August 1989.

In 1991, the company reorganized its regional structure to provide services to public utility, commercial, governmental, and residential customers through nationally coordinated efforts that were regionally arranged by customer or market group.

In 1993, the company had reached a 75 percent reduction in the use of traditional tree pesticides and a 50 percent reduction in traditional lawn care pesticides.

Continually striving to improve its services, the company set another goal, to achieve a 95 percent reduction in traditional pesticide use by 1995.

In 2006, the company had a net income of fourteen million dollars.

In 2008, the firm was the largest employee-owned company in Ohio.