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Tour the Completed SEED Campus with Dr. Dan Herms · Talking Trees with Davey Tree

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the Davy Tree Expert Company's podcast, Talking Trees.
• 0:05
  SPEAKER_00: I'm your host, Doug Oester.
• 0:06
  SPEAKER_00: Each week, our expert arborists share advice on seasonal tree care, how to make your trees thrive, arborists' favorite trees, and much, much more.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_00: Tune in every Thursday to learn more because here at the Talking Trees Podcast, we know trees are the answer.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_00: We've got another special episode for you this week as I travel to Kent, Ohio to explore Davies Seed Campus with the help of Vice President and General Manager Dan Herms, who leads us through this state-of-the-art campus.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_00: To watch a YouTube video that Dan and I made at the campus, just click on the link in our show notes.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_00: Tell me what seed stands for and what this campus is for.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_01: SEED stands for our science employee education and development campus.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_01: And this campus provides education, research, and training in support of all Davy service lines.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_01: How big is the entire campus?
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_01: The entire campus encompasses 191 acres.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I want to start off with the climbing center because that is something I'd never seen before.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_01: So the climbing center is one of our amazing training facilities.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_01: And you've never seen it before because there's not anything like it out there.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_01: This was something that was designed, conceived, and designed and developed by our Davy skills trainers.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_01: So it's an indoor training center for training climbers.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_01: There's also an outdoor climbing center as well.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_00: What role does sustainability have in building this campus?
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_01: Sustainability has been one of the main pillars of this campus since the beginning in the design phase.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_01: So the building is gold lead certified.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_01: It's an all-electric campus and no gas line, it's solar powered.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_01: We have two acres of solar panels.
• 1:57
  SPEAKER_00: I also see lots of water out there.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_01: There is a lot of water, and another component of the sustainability pillar for the campus is sites certification for the landscape that we're pursuing.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_01: And as part of that is our stormwater retention program.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_01: So we've constructed a really nice lake that's surrounded by natural vegetation.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_01: That lake captures the stormwater runoff, and then we're able to use that.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_01: We recycle that stormwater into our irrigation system.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_01: We irrigate the lawns, the arboretum with recycled stormwater.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_01: So we don't have any impact on the City of Kent stormwater system.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_01: No stormwater leaves the campus.
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_00: What was the feeling for you when this opened and you got to finally move in?
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_01: It's really almost beyond description.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_01: I have a hard time finding the words to describe it.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_01: It was surreal, it was exciting.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_01: One day on a Friday afternoon, I was in my old office, and the next Monday morning I'm here, and it's it's just it's unbelievable.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_01: I I literally can't describe the feeling.
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_00: And let's touch on research, the lab.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_00: What kind of things go on there?
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_01: So we conduct research projects to support all Davy service lines and our clients.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_01: So we conduct research on soil science, insect and pest management, stress, water relations, we test new equipment, we test environmental sensors, we conduct research on pollinator conservation habitat.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, Davy service lines run the gamut.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_00: And one thing I've noticed looking around the campus, the landscaping, but also it makes sense at a Davy facility that there would be an arboretum.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_01: We have a 30-acre arboretum.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_01: They've planted more than 30,000 plants into it in the last two growing seasons.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_01: It will eventually be open to the public.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_01: We'll also use it as a training facility for teaching the Davy employees how to identify trees.
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_01: The plants and shrubs will be labeled.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_01: Visitors can come and also learn about plants.
• 4:16
  SPEAKER_01: Back inside the building, what else goes on inside?
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_01: So, aside from the laboratories and the indoor climbing center, this building houses the Davy Institute, which is the research and training division of the Davy Tree Company.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_01: So the Davy Institute employees are here, our offices are here.
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_01: There's also classrooms, state-of-the-art classrooms here, recording studios so that we can make online training.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_01: Videos, for example, the Davy Archives.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_01: People can study the history of the Davy Tree Expert Company that was founded in 1880.
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_01: The history is very rich.
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_01: And there's an event center, a barn that houses just over 200 people.
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_01: And this barn was on the campus.
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_01: We dismantled it, put it into storage, reconstructed.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_01: The timbers for the barn were cut in 1889.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_01: So the original barn was probably built in 1890, and we've reconstructed exactly how it was.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_00: And there's a place where you play golf or study golf or both?
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_00: Both.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_01: So we have a three-green, 6T golf course.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_01: Davy has a golf division, so those golf holes support the training and research for our golf division.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_01: Also provides an opportunity for employee recreation.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_01: It's an amazing facility as well.
• 5:38
  SPEAKER_00: Now let's talk a little bit about that bog area.
• 5:41
  SPEAKER_01: So there's a natural bog on the campus.
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_01: I believe it's about 20 acres in size.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_01: It's a glacial relic, a true bog.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_01: We built a boardwalk into the bog.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_01: So it's part of a network of bogs just north of the campus.
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_01: Portage County Parks has property with three bogs on it.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_01: It's part of kind of the same ecosystem.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_01: There's other bogs in Portage County.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_01: So we're really fortunate to have a class three wetland natural bog on our campus.
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_00: And it's certainly important to preserve something like that.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_01: Oh yeah.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_01: It's you know, it's a rare habitat, there's not a lot of natural bogs left, and it's a great training resource for us.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_01: The Davy Resource Group is highly involved in wetland management and restoration, and having a bog on campus provides an opportunity for management and training.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_00: And I see a sign right behind you for classrooms, and I know that's important.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_01: Training is another pillar of the C campus, and it builds on the tradition of John Davy, who established the Davey Institute of Tree Sciences more than a hundred years ago, and has provided the foundation of our company's research-based, science-based services that we offer in our training program.
• 7:04
  SPEAKER_01: So we continue, the C campus continues the tradition that John Davy established by increasing our capacity, bringing us into the 21st century with the technology, uh state-of-the-art laboratories, and the ability to continue his tradition that he established 145 years ago for the next 100 years.
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_00: Well, speaking of training, the other thing that I saw out there is like you can train for working near electric lines, which is something I guess I didn't even think of, but you know, if you're gonna be working on trees after a storm, there's gonna be electric lines, and that's you know, training and safety, we know how important that is at Davey.
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_01: Training safety is incredibly important at Davey, and yes, we work around power lines, energized power lines.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_01: So on this campus, we've established a non-energized utility right-of-way so that arborists can learn to work safely around power lines and tree power line conflicts, trees that fall on power lines, trees that grow into power lines, how to do that safely, come home from work every day working around something as hazardous as electricity.
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_01: And then a canopy walk, what is what is that about?
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_01: So, a canopy walk, another really iconic feature of the campus that has uh multifunctions for training, research, and employee experience.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_01: And I'll talk about those.
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_01: So the canopy walk is 50 feet in the air, goes through the forest and then into a grove of mature oak trees that dates back to the early 1800s.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_01: And so we can use that to train climbers.
• 8:48
  SPEAKER_01: A climber can be in a tree with an instructor in the canopy walk right next to the climber, not yelling up from the ground, or vice versa.
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_01: For research, we can do research in the canopy of trees, which is hard to do.
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_01: The branches and leaves are in intimate contact with the canopy walk.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_01: We can hang traps, we can measure photosynthesis, and then employ experience.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_01: There's a lot of people that work at Davy, like me, that never get into the tops of trees, and we can get up into the canopy walk and see what our highly skilled climbers experience every day.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_00: Well, you guys can go up there, it looks really cool, but you're not going to get me up there.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_01: It's a long walk up a spiral staircase.
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_01: What do you use the greenhouses for?
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_01: So we use our range of greenhouses for research primarily.
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_01: So we can do studies during the wintertime, we can do studies under controlled conditions any time of the year.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_01: We also produce plants to use in our training programs.
• 9:45
  SPEAKER_01: You know, we would used to buy those from nurseries.
• 9:47
  SPEAKER_01: We can produce our own, but primarily they're designed and used for research.
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_00: And then what is the sort of tree, I guess, plantation out there?
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_01: So we have about 25 acres of tree research plots where we have planted trees, 11 different species of trees, large numbers of those trees in rows and columns where we can do highly controlled experiments, testing pest management practices, soil management practices, stress physiology, so really help us understand and learn how to manage trees.
• 10:22
  SPEAKER_01: The species were selected because they're common in our clients' properties and because they have different physiologies, water requirements, nutrient requirements, pest problems.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_00: Why do you think this place is important for your clients, for the homeowners, for uh the different divisions of people that you work with?
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_01: So it's important to our employees and our clients for several reasons.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_01: One, it will provide a highly trained workforce.
• 10:56
  SPEAKER_01: It will generate research solutions to the problems that our clients have that we address.
• 11:03
  SPEAKER_01: It also is a very tangible commitment to the future of our 145-year-old company.
• 11:10
  SPEAKER_01: So, what's next for the campus?
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_01: So this year is kind of a soft opening.
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_01: We're focused on bringing in Davy employees and figuring out how things are working.
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_01: As we move forward, we'll be expanding our training offerings to Davey and also to the industry as a whole, opening up the campus to other people.
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_01: Next spring we'll be hosting the North American Tree Climbing Championships, for example.
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_01: And so we're just really excited about being able to utilize this campus to the fullest and provide great return on this generational investment that the Davy employee owners have made in the future of the company.
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_00: What are your hopes in the future for this building and campus and what it can accomplish?
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_01: So, my hopes for this building and campus for the future are that it will, for many years to come, provide Davy with the most highly trained, most professional workforce in the tree care industry.
• 12:15
  SPEAKER_01: There's nothing like this campus anywhere in the world.
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_01: And ultimately, it will provide value to our clients and to our employee owners for years to come.
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_00: Speak a little bit to the pride of like when people come here and you get to show them this campus, it's it's amazing.
• 12:38
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's it truly is.
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_01: People are truly overwhelmed, just as we are every day when we come to work.
• 12:44
  SPEAKER_01: But when we bring people here to see the campus, um you were asked earlier about what does seed stand for.
• 12:53
  SPEAKER_01: So I brought a colleague from another tree company here with his son who was visiting Kent State University.
• 12:59
  SPEAKER_01: They asked, What does seed stand for?
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_01: And his son says, I think it stands for something especially excellent by Davy.
• 13:05
  SPEAKER_01: And I thought, yes, that's exactly what it stands for.
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_00: Don't forget to check out the YouTube video that shows all the highlights of the seed campus.
• 13:14
  SPEAKER_00: The link is in our show notes.
• 13:16
  SPEAKER_00: I enjoyed my day in Kent making the video and spending time exploring the campus with Dan.
• 13:22
  SPEAKER_00: Tune in every Thursday to the Talking Trees Podcast from the Davy Tree Expert Company.
• 13:27
  SPEAKER_00: I am your host, Doug Oester, and as always, I need you to do me a favor.
• 13:31
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• 13:34
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• 13:37
  SPEAKER_00: Send an email to podcasts at Davey.com.
• 13:41
  SPEAKER_00: That's P-O-D-C-A-S-T-S at d-a-v-e-y.com.
• 13:47
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• 13:52
  SPEAKER_00: Your ideas could be on a future episode.
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_00: We'd love to hear from you.
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_00: And as always, we'd like to remind you on the Talking Trees podcast Trees are the answer.