Scott Jamieson, a 20-year Arlington Heights resident who is a vice president of Connecticut-based Bartlett Tree Experts, has been elected chair of the board of the directors of the Tree Care Industry Association (TCIA), a national organization. He has served on the TCIA board for five years.

Established in 1938 as the National Arborist Association, today TCIA is a trade association of more than 2,000 commercial tree care firms and affiliated companies. It develops safety and education programs, standards of tree care practice, and management information for arboriculture firms around the world.

Cultivating a culture of safety

As a former board member of the National Safety Council and tireless safety advocate, Jamieson has worked throughout his time on the TCIA board to make the tree care industry – which is among the top five most dangerous professions – safer both for practitioners and their clients. TCIA recently established a Certified Treecare Safety Professional program to promote safety.

“The Certified Treecare Safety Professional program is the first time an association in the green profession has devoted a training and certification process to safety,” says Jamieson. “Why? We want to save lives in our industry, and protect homeowners and their families.”

The impact of tree care

Jamieson has devoted his entire career to the green industry and the past 22 years in tree care. This gives him valuable insight into the significance of the tree care profession: “What we do is rarely about the trees,” he said when he was installed as TCIA board chair. “Instead, it’s almost always about the impact we have on people through the care of those trees. We often directly impact their quality of life.” ow Howh

Jamieson serves on the board of the national Alliance for Community Trees, which supports grassroots, citizen-based urban tree-planting efforts, and Chicago-based Openlands, one of the oldest urban conservation groups in the nation. He is also on the board of the Midwest Ecological Landscaping Association, a community of landscape designers, contractors, suppliers and nurseries committed to sustainability.

Local volunteerism

In Arlington Heights, Jamieson has been a volunteer sports coach at Our Lady of the Wayside school. After the September 11, 2001, terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, he planted a commemorative tree at the school with students. On Arbor Day this year, he and students planted another tree at the site, which now also features an engraved boulder that the school installed, to commemorative the 10-year anniversary of the attack.

Follow Scott Jamieson on Twitter at @ChicagoTreeMD. 

Founded in 1907 by Francis A. Bartlett and in its third generation of family management, Bartlett Tree Experts has pioneered the science and services that help landscapes thrive. With offices in 27 U.S. states, Canada, Ireland and Great Britain, the company’s tree care experts provide a rare mix of local service, global resources and innovative practices that lead the industry. Distinguished by having its own tree research laboratory, Bartlett is the only private company in the National Plant Diagnostic Network, a consortium of government agencies and universities providing rapid diagnosis of plant pests and diseases.

Established in 1938 as the National Arborist Association, today's TCIA is a trade association of more than 2,000 commercial tree care firms and affiliated companies. TCIA develops safety and education programs, standards of tree care practice, and management information for arboriculture firms around the world. Through its Accreditation program, consumers can be assured of hiring a professional, ethical tree care companies that have been inspected by TCIA for proper business practices, professional employees, quality service and customer satisfaction.