The Care of Trees Acquires Treescapes

OAKLAND, Calif. – The Care of Trees is pleased to announce its merger with Treescapes of Oakland, Calif., which provides a wide range of tree care services to residential, commercial, industrial and municipal clients. Founded in 1977, Treescapes is the second West Coast company to become part of The Care of Trees. Safe and Beautiful (now called Safe and Beautiful by the Care of Trees), its West Coast office in Menlo Park, was acquired in 2002.

This acquisition is part of The Care of Trees’ overall strategy to expand its base in the lucrative northern California market. “Treescapes is a perfect addition to The Care of Trees,“ says Scott Jamieson, the company’s president and CEO. “Both companies share the same philosophy and dedication to tree care and client service. We plan for this new office to become the center for expanding operations throughout the East Bay area.”

The acquisition was also done with an eye toward employee development. “The Care of Trees is an employee-owned organization,” Jamieson says. “Consequently, one purpose of our growth is to create additional opportunities for our teammates, who are also our shareholders. Our acquisition of Treescapes enables both new and long-term employees of the two companies to benefit from the consistent skills training and employee development programs that The Care of Trees provides.”

Treescapes will continue to operate as usual under the direction of its founder, Torrey Young, whose new title will be district manager. His entire staff remains intact, and includes many long-term employees. Young’s credentials include being an ISA-certified arborist and an ASCA-registered consulting arborist. He has a long history of service to and awards from green industry associations, which will continue as he assumes the presidency of the American Society of Consulting Arborists for 2005.

“This merger allows both companies to benefit from the resources of each, and we look forward to providing quality services to the entire San Francisco Bay Area,” Young adds.

The Care of Trees now has its West Coast offices in Menlo Park, Calif., and employs six certified arborists and 36 staff members operating a fleet of 15 trucks.

Headquartered in Wheeling, Ill., The Care of Trees is now a $42 million company, growing organically and by acquisition. It is the second largest tree care company in the world that focuses specifically on private and commercial arboriculture. With more than 500 employees, The Care of Trees has divisions serving more than 60,000 clients in metropolitan Chicago; Washington, D.C.; San Francisco; New York and Philadelphia. It is the exclusive tree care company for the American Horticultural Society.