Swingle Lawn, Tree & Landscape Care’s arborist Jeff Stimson has retired. Stimson started in the green industry in 1983. With experience in tree diagnostics, pruning, lawn care, landscape installation and design, he joined Swingle in 1990. He holds certifications with the International Society of Arboriculture and is an active member of the American Society of Consulting Arborists. “I’ve watched trees planted back in 1991 mature and grow strong and vibrant for everyone in the community to appreciate,” Stimson said, of his 26-year career. “But perhaps my greatest enjoyment has been building relationships with my clients. To me, they’re not just customers but friends. I will miss our interactions in the field, the office or anywhere we’ve been able to share time together.”

Ruppert Landscape promoted Gaby Preece to assistant production manager of the Maryland landscape construction branch. She joined the company in February 2015 as assistant branch administrator of the company’s Laytonville, Md., landscape management branch. Preece is also a multi-engine instrument rated pilot and studied at Ari Ben Aviator flight school in Fort Pierce, Fla.

Buyers Products, a manufacturer of truck accessories and snow and ice management equipment based in Cleveland, hired Jim Nerone as director of information services and business intelligence. Prior to joining Buyers, Nerone spent more than a decade developing strategies for the manufacturing, transportation, distribution and materials management industries. Most recently, Nerone served as director of information and analysis at ERICO. He earned a bachelor’s and a master’s in mechanical engineering from Purdue University and a master’s of business administration from Case Western Reserve University.

Landscape Ontario elected Paul Brydges president of the association. Brydges is the first practicing landscape architect to hold the position. He officially began his two-year mandate at the horticultural association’s annual general meeting Jan. 13. A graduate of the University of Guelph’s landscape architect program in 1994, Brydges serves as the principal and senior architect at Brydges Landscape Architecture in Guelph, Ontario. The theme of his tenure will be “drawn together,” which Brydges said illustrates the importance of collaboration for the betterment of the profession.

Takeuchi-US, a manufacturer of compact equipment, promoted Bethany Klitzke to national parts manager and Scott Utzman to the customer support manager—a newly created position in the company’s expanding parts department. The customer support manager will work closely with Takeuchi dealers to further relationships and gather key information on how the company can improve practices and better support the dealer’s business.

Netafim USA, a manufacturer of drip irrigation products, made the following personnel changes:

• Dino Viale was appointed to Northern California area specification manager. He joins Netafim with more than 22 years of experience as an irrigation design consultant in Northern California, a bachelor’s in landscape architecture from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo.
• Kelly Keicher was appointed to Rocky Mountain and Pacific Northwest specification manager. He served as a Netafim district sales manager in the Rocky Mountains territory for 13 years before assuming his new role. Keicher earned his degree in Landscape Architecture & Environmental Planning from Utah State University.
• Cari Snyder was appointed to Rocky Mountain and Pacific Northwest distributor relationship manager. He has been in the landscape irrigation industry for 28 years, 16 of which were spent serving Netafim’s distributors and landscape professionals in the Pacific Northwest as district sales manager.
• Kevin Lewis to Northeast distributor relationship manager. He joins Netafim with 10 years of landscape experience, having worked in various positions in distribution, contracting and large-scale commercial projects throughout the Northeast. He also holds a LEED Green Associate credential.
• Keith Coulsting was promoted to East Coast landscape regional sales support. He joined Netafim in 2008 after spending more than 20 years in the contracting and distribution fields.

Davey Tree Expert Co., citing “strategic, significant growth” and expansion as the cause, made nine promotions in various areas and departments:

• Thomas Currier, Daniel Morgan and Kevin Sharkey were promoted to regional manager of government projects in the commercial landscape services department. Currier will manage the western region, Morgan will manage the eastern region and Sharkey will manage the pacific region.
• Mark Svozil was promoted to senior vice president of commercial landscape services. He began his Davey Tree career as a landscape foreman in 1992, has served in branch manager and commercial operations manager positions and, most recently, was vice president of operations for commercial landscape services.
• Kevin Peters was promoted to vice president of U.S. residential/commercial services, Western operating group. With more than 27 years of experience in arboriculture, he served as a district manager and regional manager for The Care of Trees (TCOT), a Davey company. In 2010, he was promoted to operations manager for Davey’s residential/commercial services, western operating group.
• Terry Bier was promoted to regional vice president of The Davey Tree Surgery Company. Bier started with Davey in 1989 and, most recently, served as operations manager for the southwestern region. He has more than 25 years of industry experience, and he holds a bachelor’s degree in science and mathematics from North Dakota State University.
• Tedd Bartlett was promoted to district manager of the Northeast Cleveland residential/commercial office. Bartlett’s career at Davey began in 2002 and was promoted to a sales arborist in 2006. He has an associate degree in forestry from Alleghany College and graduated from the Davey’s Institute of Horticulture Sciences in 2004.
• Scott Heim was promoted to district manager of the residential/commercial office in Akron, Ohio. He joined Davey in 1982, and for the last 15 years, Heim served as the district manager of Davey’s Northeast Cleveland residential/commercial office.
• Evan Shorr was promoted to district manager of Davey’s North Chicago residential/commercial territory. Starting with TCOT in 2004, he most recently served as assistant district manager of the Northeast Chicago Davey office. He has a bachelor’s degree in natural resources environmental science from the University of Illinois.
• In the company’s safety department, Mike Horneber was promoted to midwest regional safety specialist, Roy Montan was promoted to Ohio and Northeast senior regional safety specialist, Kenny Rowe was promoted to Southeast senior regional safety specialist, Regie Wilson was promoted to senior motor carrier safety specialist and Glen Olson was promoted to Upper Midwest regional safety specialist.