When speaking with Paul Martin, co-owner of Growing Earth Tree Care – a TCIA member company since 1995 and accredited since 2008 – the word “quality” comes up frequently in the conversation. The fact that doing quality work is foremost on his mind, along with that of his brother and co-owner, Jim, has shaped the business into one that enjoys a stellar reputation in northern Virginia. This includes the communities of Alexandria, Arlington, Fairfax, Falls Church, McLean and Reston, where Growing Earth has been providing tree care for both residential and commercial clients since 1976, starting under the previous ownership of Ben White.
“Ben White, the founder of Growing Earth, was one of the arborists involved with writing the first certification test at the chapter level, in this case the Mid-Atlantic Chapter of the International Society of Arboriculture (ISA),” Martin explains. “This was prior to the international test for certification. He also was an environmentalist, and eventually he moved to Seattle, where he wanted to do more with environmental issues.
“Jim and I both started working for Ben (at Growing Earth) in the mid-’80s,” Martin says. “Because of Ben’s involvement (with ISA), Jim and I have always taken certifications really seriously, because we learned their importance from Ben. Of our 12 full-time employees, many are ISA Certified Arborists and/or ISA Certified Tree Worker Climber Specialists.” This is one of the highest ratios among businesses in the tree care industry, according to Growing Earth’s website.
Both brothers are Certified Arborists and have served as president of the Mid-Atlantic Chapter of the ISA (MAC-ISA); also, each served as chair of the local ISA Tree Climbing Championship. Jim is certified in CPR, conducts in-house training in first aid and is a certified proctor for the MAC-ISA’s Tree Worker Certification test. “As you can tell, we encourage certifications big time,” Martin notes. “We pay for training materials as well as travel time and expenses (for testing), and we base raises on certifications. As we like to say, ‘The more you learn, the more you earn.’”
Martin and his brother bought Growing Earth from White in 1992, as the latter was trying to make his move to Seattle. “There was a recession going on, if you remember, and we bought during a long winter,” says Martin. “I can tell you, it wasn’t the easiest time to take over a tree business.” However, Martin says they stuck it out and continued to offer the same quality service that White was known for. “Many of our clients have been with us since Ben’s time,” he adds.
According to Martin, what distinguishes Growing Earth Tree Care in the northern Virginia area is the brothers’ involvement with ISA and the company’s TCIA Accreditation. “We are so into high-quality work, and it’s reflected in our certifications. With 12 employees, we’re kind of a small company, and we’ve kept it that way on purpose,” he says. “We don’t want to compete on price, so we offer the very best service, which is why we’ve kept the company small and more manageable.” He adds that he and his brother have been approached several times by larger tree care companies wanting to buy their business.
What motivated the brothers to seek Accreditation, says Martin, “was along the same idea of that quality thing. We thought of it as sort of the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval. We already had a business plan and good safety processes in place, but it helped us tighten all that stuff up.
“I think we were one of the first companies to become accredited right there at the beginning,” he continues. “We thought this would be really great for marketing.” Martin noted that the Accreditation logo is on their website’s home page, as well as on uniform shirts and company trucks. He also points out that some cities and towns in his area require Accreditation in order for tree care companies to bid on their projects.
While he admits the process was involved and took some major effort, Martin says it was worth it. “It made us look at ourselves and ask, ‘Are we doing everything right on a day-to-day basis?’ We’re all about improving our company, and there’s always something new we could be doing to make it better.”
The main players in Growing Earth’s Accreditation process were Jim, who runs all field operations; Brian Callen, their general foreperson and salesperson who has been with the brothers for 28 years; and Martin himself, who worked the office at the time and had access to all the information needed.
lift.
Part of the process was hiring someone “to come up with a very detailed training program for all our positions,” Martin notes. “It became a career pathway system. We’ve always put a lot of effort into training people. We wanted a company where our people could have real careers and would want to stick around.”
He continues,
“Our employees were really pleased when we became accredited. They want to work for a quality company. We’re really into our reputation. When you say you work for Growing Earth, that really means something. We’ve had people come to us (to work) based on our reputation.”
When asked if he would recommend Accreditation to other tree care businesses, Martin says, “Absolutely. In fact, we recommended it to Donegan’s Tree Service in our area. We were working on tree projects together, and we suggested they look into it. And they got accredited. I think it’s really helped them, too, to get their company up to a higher standard.
“I think we need to raise the level of everyone with Accreditation,” Martin concludes. “It takes the industry way above that image of some backwoods person with a chain saw cutting down trees.”
