The Davey Tree Expert Company SEED Campus

The Davey Tree Expert Company is proud to announce the opening of the SEED Campus. This nearly 200-acre property, across the street from our corporate headquarters, is the new home to our specialized training and research facilities. The campus is designed to solidify Davey as an industry leader in tree care and landscape research while attracting the most qualified, well-trained and engaged employees possible.

About The SEED Campus

The Davey Tree SEED (Science, Employee Education, and Development) Campus, the almost 200-acre property that formerly housed the Oak Knolls golf course and Franklin Elementary School on State Route 43 in Kent, Ohio, is the new home to specialized training and research facilities for The Davey Tree Expert Company. The new science and learning campus positions Davey to continue to attract and retain the most qualified, well-trained, and engaged employees possible.

Facilities include a 70,000-square-foot training center with new classrooms, laboratories, offices, event center, and a 10,700-square-foot indoor at-height climbing training center. Some of the other additions to the property include a non-energized utility right-of-way, greenhouses, a container nursery, an arboretum and multiple research plots and fields. 

Please note, the walking paths around the SEED Campus remain closed. We ask that members of the public respect the property’s ongoing, active construction status.

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The SEED Scoop

Behind The Scenes At Our New Training & Research Campus

As we celebrate the SEED Campus's grand opening in 2025, follow along with progress on our blog.

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SEED Campus in the News

Campus Now Open to Employees:

Building Our Training and Research Campus:

For over 140 years, Davey has shown an uncompromising commitment to the training and education of our employees and to giving back to the industry through the support and sponsoring of scientific research that enhances our collective safety, techniques and results as arborists and environmentalists. Our investment in the SEED Campus elevates this commitment to a new level, cements our standing as the thought leader in the green industry and creates a facility that our employees, shareholders and community will all benefit from.

Pat Covey

Chairman, President and CEO

SEED Campus Construction, July 2024

SEED Campus Training Center

The new training center classrooms are more than double the size of Davey's previous classrooms. They will be used to teach many of Davey’s educational and training programs, including the Davey Institute of Tree Sciences (D.I.T.S.) classes, our flagship training program in biological sciences, safety, tree and plant care and management techniques. Research and training have started taking place on the property, including tree and shrub plantings on research plots and utility and safety training.

Training and research facilities on the SEED Campus also include:

  • Canopy walk, turf/golf fairways and greens
  • Greenhouses, research/diagnostics laboratories
  • Replicated tree plantations
  • Mature tree, soil ecology and wetland research

See Plans & Progress Of The SEED Campus

SEED Campus birds-eye view

SEED Campus lobby with restored vehicles

SEED Campus Arboretum

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SEED Campus Canopy Walk under construction

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SEED Campus lab

View over SEED Campus Climbing Center

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Building a Highly Skilled Workforce

With a workforce that’s nearly doubled over the last decade, we’re proud to unveil a space that will enhance the training opportunities for our 12,000+ employees. Laboratories and office spaces for our researchers and trainers are expanded and enhanced.

35 Acres Dedicated to Research

The SEED Campus is home to a breadth of natural resources that will provide long-term research opportunities: Cuyahoga River frontage, a bog, and mature trees, to name a few. In addition, we’ve established research plots to study tree health care, turf management, soil science, pollinator habitats, deer vegetation management, low-maintenance groundcovers under solar arrays, and more.

145 Years of History

Artifacts, equipment, and documents from Davey’s history will be on display in an archives/museum space within the SEED Campus’s main building. As part of the emphasis on history, the barn that was on the property previously has been reconstructed with its original, reclaimed timbers.

Employees Sign
Employees Sign

Join Our Team And Grow With Us!

Looking for a rewarding career with opportunities for growth? Whether your dream office is somewhere in the great outdoors or something more traditional, we have a career path for you. We believe in providing a healthy, growing work-environment where you choose your career path and have access to constant education and the tools you need to set yourself up for continued success.

With jobs available throughout North America, Davey has an opportunity for you in the location you desire.

The Davey Tree Expert Company, headquartered in Kent, Ohio, provides research-driven tree services, grounds maintenance and environmental and utility infrastructure consulting for residential, utility, commercial and environmental partners in the U.S. and Canada. As one of the top ten largest employee-owned companies in the U.S., Davey's 12,000 employees have been dedicated to creating and delivering sustainable solutions since 1880. Apply today to join the Davey legacy, and learn about how we're growing with our new SEED Campus.

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