Care of Trees / Davey?

I have to agree that all this bad mouthing is getting old. So he sold the company, that happens. In fact I would argue that is the goal of most bussiness owners. I mean all you small tree company owners, don't you hope you can sell the bussiness when you don't want to run it anymore??
I would guess many of you know more about this situation than I, but I have been keeping a close tabs because I worked for COT for a while but none the less. I would imagine for the majority of the everyday workers you all seem so worried for this won't be much more than a uniform change. Yay, some of the higher ups will probally lose their jobs but I would guess 95% of the employees aren't going to lose their job.
My heart goes out to the rest of them and I bid everyone good luck, but I think a lot of you will be better served by just relaxing and seeing how it will dirrectly affect you than worrying about the fact that it is going to happen. And if you can't control the worry, atleast you have plenty of advanced warning where you can start your shopping for a new job.
 
Thanks Ron. I have spent the past 8 years with TCOT. Never before have I had the pleasure of working with a more exemplary team of professionals. We each have our ups and downs. I can say that not all 8 years have been free from pain in the workplace, but those of us who now remain are true survivors. Persistence builds character.

Now is the time for each of us to rise above the criticisms of others and see what possibilities lie ahead for each of us. We are in a fine position to guide this process rather than be driven by it...if we so choose.

I have not been thrilled with the whole Davey/TCOT move, but am evaluating the possibilities that they bring to our table and those that each of us bring to theirs. We will each be influenced by each other.

Unless you are really unhappy where you are now, sit back and see what unfolds in the coming months and know that what each of us brings to the table is professionalism, experience, sound tree care practices, and value to their table.
BD

btw, Paige you rock and so do all my favorite guys! .
 
Fastlil1 is correct, many small business build to be bought. In the IT industry in became a part of many business plans, build to be bought by one of the big players like Microsoft or Oracle.

Buglady, you're right about the whole evaluation process. During the next 1-2 yrs the company will struggle with the integration of processes and culture. Employees will be evaluated on how they participate and adapt. Some companies will invest money heavily in training for this. Take advantage of that or find yourself on the outside.

Like it or not, that is life in ANY corporation.
 
Personally I find this very sad but not surprising. Poor leadership decisions have been driving TCOT into the ground for years. For example:

1: How much was spent on Disney trips for the sales staff/managers/foreman?
2: How much was spent on EVA just to drop it a couple of years later after finding out it didn't work?
3: How much was spent on sales training from outside trainers that never resulted in an acceptable return?
4: Why did the districts have to lease their equipment from a company owned by members of upper management instead of agencies with lower interest rates?
5: Why do some districts have to pay rent to property owners that are employees of TCOT instead of the company purchasing the buildings itself and building up assetts?
6: How many times was it passed down that there was no money for raises for the crews but there was always money for retreats for the manangers, scaled down at the end?
7: The enneagram! What an excuss to blow some money and then label people you don't agree with.

I can just keep going, and going and going. The writing has been on the wall for years people. Don't be surprised. All you had to do was look. For goodness sakes how many vice presidents can one company finance? I don't blame John for anything. He has to do right by himself and his family. We would of. There is nothing wrong with TCOT that couldn't have been fixed by getting rid of most of the top managment overhead. The TCOT never bought anything so never buildt up any assetts but always did business with "friends of the company" instead. Some friends.

Bottom line: I was told a few years ago that if I had a problem with the leadership of the company than leave. I believe it was one of the many vice presidents that told me this. I did have a problem with it so I left. If you don't like it than leave. Just remember that there are still a ton of great people there that deserve the respect that they have worked so hard to get. As for those that helped bleed the company one way or the other---shame on you.
 
At least TCOT employees had H.O.P.E! No other companies had that did they? They might have had other acronyms, but they paled in significance to H.O.P.E.

TCOT gave me hope, and for that I am grateful.
 
Some how I don't think tears of sorrow are running down Jamisons face.

The current recession is really going to make things tough on everyone.

I would hazard to guess that a few of the less productive offices will be either disolved or they would try and merge them with others in the area.
 
So if the bought buildings at or near the peak of the real estate market they would be in a better position? Real estate is not their business. With that market sagging they would've been losing money. Such is the nature of business.

So, for all those reasons it could be seen that the company was ripe for takeover. Now there is a chance for new blood at the top to revive this company and take to even greater heights. It won't happen overnight.
 
I just read through these post and it's hard to read the negativity about us, so I thought I'd chime in.

1st: I don't think this is the first time the two have spoke, I've heard rumors 8-10 years ago.

2nd: With the advancement of climbing techniques and equipment in the last 15 years we certainly have an extreme conservative approach. Will you be able to walk into the door of a Davey operation with a bag full of gear that you have no formal documentation of professional training and expect to use it. Absolutely not… and yes we expect documentation that you have been properly trained with these tools. Heck we''ll even provide it for you...but you may need a little perseverance.

3rd: Please compare any training programs with ours. We have every available tool there is (yes that includes ALL saddles)for you to have, but there’s a catch... we're just going to train you in the proper use of these tools before we just start throwing them at you, and yes you will recieve documentation (Davey Career Development Program) of every step. Sherrill has a nice catalog with nice diagrams but it's not training. Tell me where else in this industry you can earn a degree from an accredited university through your employer for free. I could go on for hours regarding safety/training

4th: Don't quote me on the excact number but we have over 50 millionairs working in the field. These are employees who started purchasing Davey stock and have stayed consistant with it over the years. These are people who chose for the love of the work (it's hard not to get promoted after 3-5 yrs) to continue in the field I'm not refferring to Sales, Management, VP's or Officer positions, thats a different story.

5th: We grow our own. Our CEO, VP's Op's Managers, Sale Personnel started in the field. They're treedogs too, this again is part of our strength, our culture. If you want a carreer we have it, we're just going to Daveyize you before we just send you out.

6th: Compensation. The stucture is set up that the residential managers in the field have the opportunity to make more than the CEO, VP's and the Operational level Managers. The average is over 150K, with no caps. Many of the sales personnel are well over 100K. But again there’s a catch, we want to train you a bit first before handing you a brand new $38,000 pick up truck that has a logo of 128 years of tree care excellence on the side of it. If there were a better compensation package in the industry trust me in the fact that I would know about it. I don't have time to even go into our health and 401K benefits and other stock option plans.

Lastly: We have a tremendous amount of repect for "The Care", they are a great company, with a great reputation. If you look at the companies we've aquired you will see we are very, very selective in whom we work with. We are growing extremely rapidly with out purchasing anyone. We want and need professionals added to our team, to uphold our integrity that we work hard to maintain. As the generations continue to exchange the baton at Davey we want and need good people to continue our tradition. But there's a catch, we want to train you some first and want you to have little perseverance.
 
With any aquisition or merger comes alot of anxiety and uncertainty. This is probably the driving force of all the negetive comments. Its OK to vent, get angry and do what you need to do to move forward and beyond.
TCOT employees are some of the best people I have come to know and of which several who left Davey for TCOT. These some very talented and caring individuals, they are people just like us.
One of the greatest gifts TCOT has given to its employees is self development through a better understanding of ours actions and the impacts they have on fellow employees. Now is time to use what we have learned and perhaps TCOTize some of our new colleagues (treedogs)

JLR
 
Davey is known as a good company to work for in B.C., from the guys I have spoken to at any rate. They pay better than union rates, groundsman starting at 21.00 was a rumor I heard ???
Ive yet to work for them, but from what I have heard Id work for them any time. Long as I got to use my gear. I climbed in a nylon weaver for a LONG time, using POLESTRAPS usually two clipped together, great fun.
Anyways we don't get watched up here very much, pretty much left to get the job done on our own,so long as the gear passes WCB specs, we are good to go.

When my Brothers and I started in the trees, they(my older bros) started for a little company by the name of 'Northland',owned by Keith Later. Northland was bought by the big orange machine, 'Asplundh', and we all worked for them for 10 years or better, they were a great company. Basically the smaller Northland company just donned the orange gear and continued on as before, so the changeover was relatively painless and positive.
Asplundh was the first of the big guys to make their way into B.C.(though Davey may have had a truck or two in province at the time?), and since we have seen the proliferation of their trucks and now Davey as well.
Asplundh has over 100 crews, they put a lot of bread on peoples tables, as does Davey now as well.
Now we have Lewis moving into B.C., under the name of 'Tamarack Tree Care', or 'Tamarack Forestry Services' trying to make in roads. My brother Curtis and I have just started to work for them, and well see what the future brings. So far so good, bit of a management problem, but we are working on changing that.
Basically I guess my point is this, this industry is always changing, Davey will have to change the way they let guys climb or they will have only the sketchiest, or oldest, or both, guys willing to climb for them, that is inevitable. May take more time than some are willing to wait, and I completely understand a guy wanting to work elsewhere if they cannot climb they way they feel safe, but it will happen eventually.
Time stands still for no man.
If your involved directly or indirectly in this changeover, just try to keep a positive attitude and get everything you can from it, if you see absolutely nothing in it for you, then perhaps it is time to move on, to hopefully a brighter future.
Takeovers, buyouts etc... happen, they are a fact of life when you are working for a larger company, make the best of it or jump ship.
Stay safe gang, and have a good week,
-Grais.
 
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