When speaking with Paul Martin, co-owner of Growing Earth Tree Care – a TCIA member company since 1995 and accredited since 2008 – the word “quality” comes up frequently in the conversation. The fact that doing quality work is foremost on his mind, along with that of his brother and co-owner, Jim, has shaped the business into one that enjoys a stellar reputation in northern Virginia.

According to Martin, what distinguishes Growing Earth Tree Care in the northern Virginia area is the brothers’ involvement with ISA and the company’s TCIA Accreditation.

We are so into high-quality work, and it’s reflected in our certifications. With 12 employees, we’re kind of a small company, and we’ve kept it that way on purpose,” said Martin

We don’t want to compete on price, so we offer the very best service, which is why we’ve kept the company small and more manageable.”

What motivated the brothers to seek Accreditation, says Martin, “was along the same idea of that quality thing. We thought of it as sort of the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval. We already had a business plan and good safety processes in place, but it helped us tighten all that stuff up.”

“I think we were one of the first companies to become accredited right there at the beginning,” he continues. “We thought this would be really great for marketing.” Martin noted that the Accreditation logo is on their website’s home page, as well as on uniform shirts and company trucks. He also notes that some cities and towns in his area require Accreditation for tree care companies to bid on their projects.

While he admits the process was involved and took some major effort, Martin says it was worth it. “It made us look at ourselves and ask, ‘Are we doing everything right on a day-to-day basis?’ We’re all about improving our company, and there’s always something new we could be doing to make it better.”

Part of the process was hiring someone “to come up with a very detailed training program for all our positions,” Martin notes. “It became a career pathway system. We’ve always put a lot of effort into training people. We wanted a company where our people could have real careers and would want to stick around.”

When asked if he would recommend Accreditation to other tree care businesses, Martin says, “Absolutely. “I think we need to raise the level of everyone with Accreditation. It takes the industry way above that image of some backwoods person with a chain saw cutting down trees.”

This excerpt is from an article by Patricia Chaudoin in TCI Magazine.

To see the full article, click here.

To learn more about TCIA Accreditation, click here.

To learn more about membership in TCIA, click here.