The Davey Tree Expert Company has grown from a small seedling of an idea first planted by John Davey into a giant within the green industry. Our founder John Davey, known as the “Father of Tree Surgery,” developed the concept that the health of a tree could be maintained like that of a human when he founded The Davey Tree Expert Company in 1880. Since then, Davey has set industry standards for tree care and become one of the largest employee-owned companies in North America. As Davey has grown, so too has its commitment to its clients, employees and the environment.
Rooted In Expertise Since 1880
Explore The Timeline Of Davey History Below.
A Future Focused on Employees
- 2025: The Davey SEED (Science, Employee Education and Development) Campus is projected to open.
- 2024: Davey celebrates 45 years of employee-ownership. The company employs 12,000+ employees across North America with a total annual revenue of more than $1.6 billion.
- 2024: Davey announces the opening of its biochar facility in East Dundee, Illinois. The operation will recycle wood waste from client properties and turn it into the environmentally friendly soil additive, biochar, while integrating Davey employees into a growing and innovative area of environmental sustainability.
- 2023: Significant upgrades are completed at Davey’s corporate headquarters in Kent, Ohio: the addition of a 38,400 square-foot third wing and complete renovations within the original two wings.
- 2022: Crews break ground at the new Davey SEED (Science, Employee Education and Development) Campus. The 190+ acre property across the street from the corporate headquarters will be home to specialized training and research facilities.
- 2020: Davey partners with Certified Employee-Owned (Certified EO), the leading certification program for employee-owned companies in America.
- 2020: Davey’s Fleet Services begins introducing electric vehicles with Teslas (2020) and Ford F-150 Lightnings two years later (2022), demonstrating an investment in sustainability and employee resources.
- 2018: Davey launches the Green Leaders program to recognize employees’ volunteer activities. In the first year of recording, employees compiled 19,000+ hours to more than 600 organizations.
- 2017: Karl Warnke retires as CEO after 37 years of service to the Davey Company. Pat Covey is named President and CEO.
- 2016: Pat Covey is elected president and chief operating officer.
- 2012: Davey management establishes Vision 20/20, a strategic plan to guide business strategy. Strategic planning continues today with Vision 2030, Davey’s current strategic plan.
Employee Ownership, New Service Lines, Acquisitions
- 2008: Amid the Great Recession, Davey has a record-breaking year for revenue, bolstered by the two largest acquisitions in company history: The Care of Trees and Wolf Tree. Davey has made more than 70 acquisitions since 2008; prior to then, it had made at least 60.
- 2006: Davey partners with the USDA and others to begin development of the i-Tree software suite to quantify the benefits of trees.
- 2001: Davey navigates the aftermath of Sept. 11, 2001, and in the years that followed, employees would work on related sites and memorials. Davey was contracted to re-landscape Pentagon grounds in Washington, D.C. following the terrorist attacks. Davey employees were also involved in fundraising and establishing the landscape of the Flight 93 Memorial in Pennsylvania.
- 1999: Karl Warnke is elected president and chief operating officer with two decades of Davey service.
- 1995: Davey Resource Group is established to provide an array of services to clients, including natural resource consulting, tree inventories, utility vegetation management and more. The same year, Davey's Commercial Landscape Services (CLS) service line is established.
- 1985: Davey opens its new corporate headquarters in Kent, Ohio. That same year, Doug Cowan, who played a crucil role in the employee acquisition, is elected president and chief operating officer.
- 1982: The Employee Stock Purchase Plan is introduced, making it easier for employees to acquire shares through payroll deduction—at a 15 percent discount.
- 1979: Davey becomes employee-owned as the employees of the company, led by Jack Joy, acquire Davey Tree from the family.
- 1977: Jack Joy, a 30-plus year Davey employee, is elected president and chief operating officer at the same time the Davey family announces plans to sell the company.
A Growing Enterprise
- 1976: Davey is granted a patent for developing Arbor Green, a revolutionary liquid tree fertilizer.
- 1969: Davey Tree incorporates the Davey Tree Surgery Company in California as a subsidiary.
- 1969: Davey plays a role in the historical journey that first landed humans on the moon. Crews pruned trees along a 30-mile route to the engine test site in California’s Santa Susana Mountains so the enormous Saturn II moon rocket would not be obstructed as it traveled on the back of a flatbed trailer. This work made it possible for Apollo XI to land safely later that year.
- 1967: Davey opens the Kent Shop in Kent, Ohio, to service the company’s rapidly expanding equipment fleet.
- 1954: The new Davey Technical Service Center opens in Kent. As home to research and development, the new facility also houses D.I.T.S. and is the predecessor to the Davey Institute.
- 1953: Bucket trucks and brush hogs are introduced to Davey crews. These advancements come on the heels of the advent of the power chainsaw, brush chipper, chemical brush control and mist blowing, all of which were introduced to the tree care industry by the close of the last decade.
- 1946: Martin L. Davey, Sr., dies. His son, Martin L. Davey, Jr., becomes president at age 28 just months after returning from three years of service in WWII.
- 1934: The company begins to recover from the effects of the Depression by turning a modest profit after three straight years of losses. In the same year, Martin L. Davey, Sr., is elected Ohio’s fifty-third governor.
- 1933: The throes of the Great Depression render Davey Tree unable to make payroll. Kent office employees were put on half pay; some employees went weeks without a paycheck.
- 1930: Davey’s Canadian operations are founded.
- 1928: Wellington Davey founds the Davey Tree Surgery Company in California.
A Corporation is Born
- 1921: Davey Tree moves into the utility line clearance market with a contract for Northern Ohio Power and Light Company.
- 1920: Paul Davey, Martin’s younger brother, introduces mechanization into the business, improving efficiency through his adaptation of pneumatic compressor technology. The compressors improved fertilization and cavity repair methods in the field, increasing efficiency and profitability. Paul would use his many patents to later found the Davey Compressor Company.
- 1909: John Davey, as the first president, files the articles of incorporation for The Davey Tree Expert Company along with his son, Martin L. Davey, Sr., who is named general manager and treasurer.
- 1908: The Davey Institute of Tree Sciences (D.I.T.S.) is founded to train employees in the science of tree care; the inaugural class graduates in 1909.
- 1901: Davey publishes his book “The Tree Doctor” outlining his scientific methods for healing and caring for America’s trees.
- 1880: John Davey founds The Davey Tree Expert Company.