SavATree's managers grab the clippers

The SavATree crew helped out at the Bergen County Zoo. Photo: SavATreeEmployees at Bedford Hills, N.Y.-based SavATree don’t stop pruning when it rains and neither do the higher-ups. The managers donated their time and labor on a rainy day in May to prune trees at a local zoo that will celebrate its 50th anniversary this year.

Tragedy to Charity 
Luann O’Brien, vice president of marketing and sales development for SavATree, says that after 9/11, management decided to stop doing fun, teambuilding exercises, and instead tended to the damaged trees at St. Paul’s Chapel across from the World Trade Center site.

She says the Ground Zero work is “a tough act to follow,” but SavATree continues to find annual opportunities to donate its services.

“We look for something that’s community based, not-for-profit and in an area with a lot of customers, so we can contribute back to them,” she says.

At the Zoo
Paul Carbone, New Jersey district sales manager, chose to donate the company’s services to the Bergen County Zoo in Paramus, N.J.

“I picked the zoo because, as an animal lover, I thought it would be a lot of fun,” Carbone says. Last winter’s fierce weather took a beating on the zoo.

Aside from normal pruning needs, the zoo had to deal with the storms’ attacks on the trees and fencing.

As with all the previous annual volunteer projects, it was management rather than the typical arborists and pruners who did grunt work at the zoo.

“Of course for us, it’s a great time for everybody to get together and it reminds us very clearly – especially those of us who are in corporate – of how hard our people work,” says O’Brien.

She says that Carbone collaborated with the zoo’s grounds supervisor to map out the work areas and prioritize what areas to do first.

SavATree was extra productive when pruning, thanks to help from zoo workers, who helped clean up debris.

What You Can Do
O’Brien says giving back shows your community that you’re a responsible business.

“What we do as an industry is very, very valuable and there are many worthy options,” she says.

When looking for a group to support, O’Brien suggests looking for one in the community you service, and in which your clients are involved.

The zoo project cost SavATree about $14,000, but O’Brien says it’s worth the time the company invested.

“The primary ROI is the intangible,” she says. “It’s the camaraderie between the management group, and the community service – the benefit of being a good corporate citizen.”