Environmental Leadership Awards 1999: Tom Tolkacz

When Tom Tolkacz walks down a hiking trail and comes across a tin can thrown carelessly on the path, he can do one of two things: pick up the can and throw it away or leave it there.

"I’m the type of person who picks it up," Tolkacz, president of Swingle Tree Co., Denver, Colo., admitted. "I can’t help it."

Everybody has the opportunity to make choices, especially when it comes to running a tree and lawn care business. When Tolkacz makes business decisions he said it’s his job to think about the environment first.

"I’m here because I love what I do – caring for trees and turf," Tolkacz pointed out. "As a company, I make choices because I believe they are right. I can use product X or Y. One is more persistent in the environment and the other is less persistent. If I choose the one that’s less persistent in the environment but doesn’t have as much control, then I don’t get the results that I always need with customers. But I have to balance my decision process to include environmental concerns."

This love for the environment and his work is what Tolkacz said has kept him thriving in the landscape and lawn care industry for over 20 years.

Time Well Spent.Growing up in S. Milwaukee, Wis., Tolkacz spent many summers at Lake Michigan hunting, fishing and camping. It’s a pastime he hasn’t let go of.

Being a true outdoorsman, it was natural for Tolkacz to want to work outside as well. In high school, Tolkacz worked with Junior Project Services, a government program where students can work with the city forestry and county park departments doing maintenance work. After high school, Tolkacz went to the University of Madison-Wisconsin to pursue a career in business. By his sophomore year, Tolkacz realized that he had to follow his affinity toward agriculture, horticulture and forestry and changed his major.

While in college, Tolkacz took on four different internships, giving him a broad perspective of the green industry. He did some of the initial research on necrotic ring spot disease and some research concerning pesticide effectiveness on ornamental trees and shrubs. Tolkacz also interned at a golf course, at a state park as a forest ranger, and then traveled to Colorado to do another golf course internship. Tolkacz graduated from the University of Madison-Wisconsin with a degree in turf and grounds management and forestry.

During the mid-1980s – what Tolkacz called the tail end of the booming rapid growth of the lawn care industry – Tolkacz worked at the Barefoot Grass Corp., Denver, Colo., for four seasons. He joined Swingle Tree Co. in 1987 as an assistant manager in the lawn department, and then moved to operations manager in 1991, vice president in 1993 and, finally, president last year after longtime owner David Dickson passed away.

"The exciting thing about working with Dave was the culture that he instilled in the company," Tolkacz said, mentioning the fact that he hopes to continue that culture at Swingle Tree. "It was a culture of complete honesty with the employees and the customers.

Implementing this kind of culture is a commitment. To keep his employees focused, Tolkacz makes sure they’re reminded daily of company values.

"After our morning meetings, we shout out a saying that we live and breathe by around here: ‘Safety, Quality, Production,’" he enthused. "It keeps our people focused and gets their blood flowing. It’s more than a mission statement – you have to live it and breathe it. If you don’t follow our values, you don’t last long here."

Swingle Tree also cut its water usage by 40 percent in the last six years by monitoring the amount used in tree spraying applications, Tolkacz said. By selecting a trunk or soil injection pesticide product to use instead of a liquid pesticide, he claimed they reduced airborne pest spray. When his employees do spray pesticides, they use 99 percent water, Tolkacz assured, and they do less broadcast spraying to reduce water usage.

"There is a risk associated with everything we do," he said. "But if we use the materials properly, we can reduce that risk and help the environment. Recently, we started using a blower to clean the sidewalk after applying granular fertilizer and our customers liked the idea, forcing our competition to do it too."

As a part of the Clean Air Colorado Campaign, Tolkacz said 25 percent of his company’s vehicles are on alternative fuel. Swingle Tree also donates its mulch chips from tree pruning to the community and its customers for use.

Continued Success. The future of Swingle Tree, according to Tolkacz, is the "era of the employee."

"Our leaders don’t have as much contact any more with customers so our field level employees have the opportunity to shape who we are and what is in store for our future," Tolkacz asserted. "So, we’ll focus on training our employees to take on new responsibilities."

Although it’s easy to lose site of the environment, Tolkacz said he has confidence that won’t occur at Swingle Tree.