Every year at the Winter Management Conference, TCIA honors three arborists that have made contributions to the tree care industry. This year’s winners were awarded for their contributions as industry leaders and volunteer service. Following is a list of all the winners and a link to a video tribute.

TCIA was proud to honor the legacy and career of Will Nutter for the 2021 Award of Merit, posthumously, for his passion and his contributions to the industry as a leader, mentor and positive force for more than forty decades.

TCIA’s Award of Merit is the highest honor paid by TCIA to an individual or company that has positively impacted the field of arboriculture, regardless of membership in the association.

Will served as president and chief operating officer (COO) of Wright Tree Service. He was the senior vice president and COO of Wright Service Corp. Under his leadership, Wright Tree Service grew to be widely recognized for utility vegetation management services in the industry, including integrated vegetation management, storm restoration, and work planning services for railroad and utility companies and their communities across North America.

His career began in 1982 as a groundsman for Wright Tree Service. He continued to be promoted through the ranks serving many roles. These roles included general foreman, division supervisor, division manager, operations manager, vice president, and ultimately president and COO in 2008.

Will also served as president of the Utility Arborist Association (UAA) and as chair of the TREE Fund Board of Trustees.

Watch the full video tribute to Will to hear from his family, friends, and colleagues.

Jim Ingram, President, and COO of Bartlett Tree Experts were awarded the Chair’s Award for his outstanding contributions to TCIA.  The nominations for this award are made by the President and Board of Directors of TCIA.

As the President of Bartlett Tree Experts since 2013, Jim oversees the company’s 151 operations in four countries, including 39 U.S. states, Canada, Ireland, and Great Britain.  Jim enjoys assisting arborists in developing their careers. He’s given over 600 lectures on topics including safety, tree and landscape valuation, and hazard tree assessment. He is a Registered Consulting Arborist and Board-Certified Master Arborist. Jim continues to advance his own professional development by active involvement in the industry.

Jim joined Bartlett Tree Experts as an Arborist Representative in 1983. Subsequently served as a local manager, Vice President, and Division Manager.  In his nearly forty years with the company, Jim has time and again demonstrated his commitment and ability to achieve success.

Watch a video tribute to Jim to hear more about his career in the tree care industry:

TCIA honored Larry Abernathy with the Pat Felix Volunteer of the Year Award. This award is presented to a TCIA member volunteer who has gone above and beyond the call of duty and who has committed a great deal of time and effort toward the success of TCIA. This award was created to honor Pat Felix who retired from TCIA in 2001.

Larry helped create an entry-level Utility Arborist Training Program in the California Community College system using TCIA’s Arborist Apprenticeship Year 1 curriculum. He was a big advocate of this training program. Also, helping TCIA test delivery of the Qualified Crew Leader in-person training throughout the entire college system.

Larry retired from Davey Tree Surgery after 49 years.

A big thank you to Larry for his support post-retirement.

Watch a video about Larry here: