ANNUAL REPORT

At our 2020 Winter Management Conference in Puerto Vallarta, I said these things in my Chair’s speech:

“All of us [in the business of tree care] need to embrace the challenge of managing the risk of our profession with the right equipment, the right training and the right mindset … by doing the right things, from the top to the bottom and from side to side in our organizations … by what we say, by how we say it and, most important, by our actions and behaviors.

“TCIA has been, is and will continue to be right there beside us, nimble and adaptable, open to change and innovation. Having an association with a growth mindset is essential to keeping us all on our continuous-improvement toes.”

Little did I know then how the ability of TCIA to adapt, adjust and pivot would soon thereafter be put to the ultimate test in 2020! But when faced with the realities of COVID-19, turn on a dime we did, with kindness, strength, deliberation and determination to keep our stay safe while supporting TCIA’s mission to continue serving our members.

When we realized in June 2020 that we could not realistically hold TCI EXPO this past fall, we also knew the profound and immediate financial impact of that decision, since 30% of the organization’s revenue is derived from that event. I am especially proud of the work that the stay, Finance Committee and Board did to develop a budget that was fiscally prudent while also allowing TCIA to continue with its mission of advancing tree care businesses. Your Board is a group of Committed Team Players who have Strategic Open Minds as Stewards of our Industry. I have 100% confidence that they will continue to Keep Calm and Carry On in service to the association for the common good of our members.

James Lane Allen said, “Adversity does not build character, it reveals it.” It has been my great honor to serve as the chair of the TCIA Board of Directors this past year and witness the revelation of character in our stay, leadership and Board members. While this year has been fraught with tragedy, upheaval and unrest, it has also seen remarkable growth, innovation and positive change in the tree care industry and at TCIA, as you will see in the contents of this report.

Mundy Wilson Piper
TCIA Board Chair, 2020-2021
Chippers Inc., President & CEO

The following pages of this Annual Report chronicle the accomplishments and journey of TCIA during our Fiscal Year (FY’19-’20) September 2019 – August 2020.

Our core focus is to advance tree care businesses.

What we’re good at: Providing connections, resources and training to the tree care business community.

BASIC STATS

212   first-time new member tree care companies.

968  tree care companies renewed their memberships.

502 tree care companies rejoined TCIA.

1,666   tree care companies members.

BASIC STATS

As of August 2020, TCIA had 277 corporate members (manufacturers, distributors and service providers for the tree care industry).

INFRASTRUCTURE

For the first time, corporate members have 4 fully dedicated TCIA staff actively working on their behalf within the organization.

TCIA introduced new ways for corporate members to engage and provide value to tree care companies, including:

• Robust digital advertising on new platforms
• Product highlights, such as Cutting Edge/Product Reviews/ Arborist Skills
• Content opportunities with webinars/blogging/articles

Launched early August 2020

200+ feature articles Enhanced search & navigation Premium video content Audio versions of articles Ability to translate to 9 languages

The website has experienced a 30% increase month over month in users and sessions, and 14% monthly increase in pageviews, highlighting TCI Magazine’s growth beyond print.

This provides our corporate members the opportunity to expand thier marketing and branding efforts in the digital world.

TCIA had 8 “small-entity representative member companies” participate in informative strategy meetings virtually to help prepare them to participate in OSHA/SBA-led small-industry panels concerning an OSHA arborist standard.

April 2020

Winter Management Conference in Puerto Vallarta was a huge success and one of our last in-person meetings for 2020 due to COVID-19

312 CTSPs graduated from 8 in-person classroom workshops.

Sept 2019 – March 2020

In March 2020, as COVID-19 forced most states to issue “stay-at-home” orders, TCIA and ISA acted quickly to advocate for our industry to be considered “essential” and exempt from these orders. Those in the industry know that the work they do is both essential and carries low risk for COVID transmission, but policymakers had to be convinced. Key to this advocacy was the TCIA/ISA Joint Statement of Essential Services that was used to educate policymakers and the public on the essential services our industry provides. As a result, the safety-sensitive work in our industry was recognized as essential in all jurisdictions across the entire country.

COVID-19 education and guidance for our members:

• 12 COVID-19 related webinars
• 16 COVID-specific breaking news alerts
• COVID-19 resource center on TCIA.ORG including training and discounts from corporate members
• TCI Magazine articles on COVID-19 public policy
• Advocated at the state level in 8 states for clarification on “essential services”
• Member engagement coordinators conducted weekly virtual COVID roundtable meetings with members in each of their regions Mar. – Apr. 2020

Pivoting to a virtual world and expanding our reach:

WORKING TOGETHER

Set up and tested on-site consulting visits (on hold until April 2021 due to COVID.)

Rolled out an online employee-engagement tool for TCIA members.

Researched and vetted an industry 401(k) program for TCIA members (to be rolled out in 2021).

• Created and offered free Crew Leader refresher webinars based on the Qualified Crew Leader program.
• Installed a learning-management system (LMS) for creating online courses.
• Created our first online course – English EHAP.
• Moved all tests from our training programs to the tcia.org online test center to support a faster and more streamlined turnaround time.

• Set up an industry standard method for translating tree care training materials into Spanish.
• Translated EHAP and Crew Leader into Spanish.
• Designed a new all-in-one EHAP card mailer based on the membership cards to save the credentialing team hours of work printing/laminating/mailing, etc. …