Davey Tree Names Kent Native New Vice President

Kent's oldest, arguably most successful company has selected a Kent native to serve as its newest vice president.

The Davey Tree Expert Co. announced the appointment of Aurora resident Richard Foote Wednesday to vice president of the tree care firm's residential and commercial services division. Foote grew up in Kent and will continue working out of the company's Kent headquarters just north of .

The graduate earned both a bachelor's degree in conservation and a master's degree in business administration from Kent State.

Foote joined Davey in 1976 as a lawn technician and has held such positions as district manager, operations manager and, most recently, as vice president of acquisitions and integration for residential-commercial services, according to Davey Tree.

The employee-owned Davey Company, founded in 1880 by Kent resident John Davey, has operations in the U.S. and Canada and employs more than 7,000 people.

Foote's promotion comes as the company works to finalize an agreement that would move the Stow-based Davey Resource Group into the downtown Kent redevelopment project.

The firm has not signed a lease with the project developer, Fairmount Properties, but Davey Tree has signed a letter of intent to move the 60 to 70 employees from Stow to Kent.