Daniel Palmquist Owner/Climber
I didn’t see myself being an arborist in college. At that point, I couldn’t identify a single tree… Unless “Christmas tree” counts. A bumper sticker on an older pickup in traffic introduced me to the profession. That bumper sticker and the subsequent Google searching led me to a part-time job at a tree service where I found the hands-on experience and fast-paced environment an inspiring mix of challenging, rewarding, and valuable.
I took a special interest in climbing and rigging. Dismantling entire trees, all their looming limbs and diverging leads, with nothing but a few bags of gear is very, very cool. As impressive as big removals are, I find the technical difficulty and aesthetic nature of trimming to be my favorite part of the job.
Nowadays, as I continue to study ecology, I look at how intricate the interaction of all organisms above and below the canopy are, and wonder how we ended up with a country largely blanked in the same species. Creating a company that blends ecological function with the dominant cultures aesthetic sensibilities is what I strive for.
Employees —
We have found that the typical hourly wage structure that most tree services, lawn companies, and landscapers use for their labor is not for us. Instead, although we do guarantee an hourly rate to anyone who works on our jobs, we employ a hybrid system witch allows qualified contractors to share the profit of every job they take part in.
A qualified worker takes more responsibility than an hourly worker would, since they must organize and represent themselves, and they should possess all the necessary gear and skill to complete their work.
This means that although we have no true employees, as per each jobs’ requirements we’ll work with highly qualified people who all have a wealth of knowledge and experience. They are compensated at a much higher rate per job than they would get as an employee while being free to pursue their own jobs, work with other companies, dictate their schedule, and be their own boss.