The association has been helping tree care companies grow and keep employees safe since our founding. With more than 2,000 members to date, TCIA is grateful for the loyal commitment of our commercial tree care firms and affiliated companies who have stood by us throughout the years. Visit the photo gallery links below and learn more about the history of TCIA and the tree care industry. After all, your history is our history.

Anniversaries are celebrated in a number of ways and for a variety of purposes. A wedding anniversary can honor a commitment of decades and provide the opportunity to reflect upon the curves, bumps and hills overcome along the journey.

For an organization like the Tree Care Industry Association, an anniversary serves as a way to honor the commitment of the pioneers who established the organization, to reflect on the volunteer members who oversaw its growth, and to salute the current members who act as stewards for its ongoing legacy.

TCIA was established in 1938 as the National Arborist Association with a mission is to advance tree care businesses. Since its founding, the association has been helping tree care companies grow and keep employees safe.

By providing a network of resources

It can be lonely out there running a business by yourself with competitors, regulators, and employees posing challenges daily. TCIA’s hotlines, business mentors program, member-to-member storm assistance network, and ongoing information sharing provides members with ways to reach out and communicate with other tree care professionals.

When members need industry-related information or assistance with a specific business challenge, they call on TCIA – and each other – for answers. TCIA’s network of companies, industry resources, business advisors, staff arborists and regulatory experts will find the answers to members’ questions.

By making the industry safer

Since its inception, association staff, members and volunteers have dedicated themselves to improving safety for those in this industry who are open to change and improvement. At the end of the day, TCIA wants your employees to return home safely to their families and loved ones. TCIA works with government agencies to write understandable and enforceable rules to improve safety in the industry. The association creates safety training programs to help make sure this happens – programs available to members for free or at steep discounts.

More than 1,000 Certified Treecare Safety Professionals around the country serve as training and innovation leaders in companies, municipalities and utilities large and small.

By advancing professionalism and public recognition

TCIA has been a driving force for professional business practices in arboriculture. The world has changed significantly since TCIA first opened its doors. The sheer volume of information that is always available electronically gives everyone a voice, an opinion and a platform. Slicing through the clutter to define professional practices and ethical conduct for consumers looking to purchase tree work and for companies striving to be the best has always been an integral part of TCIA’s mission.

There’s a reason why many of TCIA’s founding companies started out as one- or two-man operations and decades later are multi-million dollar businesses. Through hard work and a partnership with TCIA, they have stayed plugged into an industry that is constantly evolving. The business challenges faced by owners 70, 50 or 30 years ago are remarkably similar to the ones faced today.

TCIA members know they are better off working in association with others in such a competitive and hazardous industry than trying to advance in isolation.

TCIA’s mission has been to advance tree care businesses since 1938 and we continue in that mission.