Lewis Tree Service

Over 1,600 crew members from Lewis Tree Service were among Hurricane Isaias first responders serving 20 customers across 13 states. Lewis crews and equipment traveled from as far away as Texas in advance of the storm's arrival to be in place and ready to assist customers from Florida to New England as the path of Isaias rapidly shifted. Over a 25-day period, from July 31 through August 24, Lewis craftworkers and operational leaders clocked over 286,000 hours providing emergency storm restoration services throughout New England and the New York tri-state area without a craftworker injury.

Founded in 1938, Lewis Tree Service has emerged as North America's second largest provider of vegetation management services to utilities and governments. Our customers rely on us to provide reliable, cost-effective vegetation management solutions without compromising safety and quality - to get the Job Done Right! Lewis Tree Service is proud to be an employee-owned company with 2,400 of over 4,800 employees participating as shareholders through our Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP).

In 2016, Lewis Tree Service received an ETHIE award from Elevate Rochester (formerly the Rochester Area Business Ethics Foundation). Sounds like a nice feather in our cap (and we truly are appreciative!) Like many companies, Lewis Tree Service has a formal set of values and operating principles. These values are well documented and communicated among employees. They are detailed in our strategic plan, reviewed at every monthly business update with the entire team, outlined on our website, and, importantly, recorded in our employee handbook that all new hires review during the onboarding process.

Job Done Right has been the Lewis Tree Service tagline for the past few years, as evidenced in our print ads, website and other materials. What does this mean? It means that our entire company is aligned behind the intent to always do the right thing-and we're willing to communicate that externally to a) define what customers can expect from us and b) differentiate us from the competition. For us, Job Done Right encompasses our entire culture: safety, on-time delivery, within budget while adhering to our operating principles and ethical framework.

Lewis Tree Service is a leader in providing comprehensive vegetation management services for public utilities, co-ops and municipalities across North America. We have earned a reputation for providing cost-effective solutions tailored to meet and exceed the needs of our customers. Our focus on maximizing efficiency while not compromising safety and quality has made us the contractor of choice for many utility companies. We service a range of utilities from the largest investor-owned transmission and distribution companies to community-focused Electric Cooperatives and municipal electric companies.

At Lewis Tree Service, we know that we are stronger because of our partners who provide us with training, education, best practices, knowledge, and expertise in all areas of vegetation management and utility line clearance. Through research, technology, and education, the International Society of Arboriculture (ISA) promotes the professional practice of arboriculture and fosters a greater worldwide awareness of the benefits of trees. The TCIA develops safety and education programs, standards of tree care practice and management information for tree and landscape firms around the world.

Safety is one of our mission-critical values supported by a commitment from leadership at the highest levels of our organization. At Lewis Tree Service, we are supersizing our culture of learning. Some of the highlights include breaking into groups to study Todd Conklin's book Pre-Accident Investigations, proactively seeking serious injury potential "close call" stories to gather and share critical lessons that can keep others from getting hurt, building in thoughtful pauses in our work days to actively notice/manage risks and hazards, and changing the language around our After Action Reviews to include asking ourselves what surprised us the most and uncover what we learned.

Monroe purchased Lewis Tree Service, a unionized line clearance company which positioned Monroe to expand utility line clearance services to include New York's Niagara Mohawk Power Corp., New York State Electric & Gas Corp. and Central Hudson Gas and Electric Corp. Company purchases Tamarack Forestry Service, Inc., positioning the Company to expand into Canada and Maine. Company expands westward into Indiana, Kentucky and Ohio for new contracts with Dayton Power, Duke Energy and First Energy. Partnered with an Atlanta-based technology company to expand our capabilities to include work management applications for the energy and communications industries.

Whether we're ringing the Salvation Army bell at a mall outside of Rochester, NY or acting as a patron sponsor of the Camp Harbor View summer beach ball event in Boston, MA, Lewis Tree Service is committed to serving in our communities across the nation. On an annual basis, our corporate staff alone volunteers close to 1,000 hours of service. Our crew members also participate in events across the country like installing a butterfly garden at an elementary school in Baltimore, MD, planting trees for Arbor Day in Indiana and participating in Saluting Branches events nationwide.

The Lewis family of companies (affectionately known as the Lewis family tree) is 100% employee-owned with over 4,500 employees. Lewis serves its customers and communities with three independent service lines: utility line clearing and storm restoration, primarily through Lewis Tree Service, Inc.; railway and highway vegetation control, primarily through Wilderness USA, Inc., and residential and commercial tree care, primarily through Carolina Tree Care. Founded in 1938, Lewis is celebrating over 80 years as leaders in the vegetation management business.