Glenside

August 30th, 2023 | By Ryan Genova

Asplundh Tree Expert, LLC was founded by three brothers (Lester, Griffith and Carl Asplundh, pictured above) on August 28, 1928 in Glenside. Now the largest tree pruning and vegetation management company in the country, the company celebrated its 95th anniversary on Monday. In its first year, the company decided to specialize in vegetation management for utility customers. By 1929, it was performing contract work for Philadelphia Electric Company (PECO), Public Service Company of New Jersey (PSE&G), Jersey Central Power & Light (FirstEnergy), Pennsylvania Power & Light Company (PPL), all companies Asplundh serves today.

In the 1930s, the company sent its workers across state lines to assist in restoration efforts following severe hurricanes in New England. Around the same time, Asplundh also expanded into the utility construction industry and established Utility Line Construction Company in 1936. The company would later add everything from utility pole maintenance and street lighting to meter installation to its growing portfolio of service offerings.

Following World War II, Asplundh pioneered innovations that would set standards across the industry. The company developed the first portable brush chippers in 1949 and built the first insulated aerial lift in 1958. It was also an early partner in the State Game Lands 33 Research Project, a 70-year partnership with Penn State University and others that continues to study the effects of right-of-way vegetation management and herbicides on the natural habitats of plant and wildlife populations.

Asplundh Today

Asplundh today remains a family-owned company, counting eight grandchildren of the founders among its top executive leadership team. It remains a key provider of routine and emergency tree pruning and removals, right-of-way clearing and maintenance with specialized equipment, and integrated vegetation management with herbicides for the same industry its founders entered 95 years ago.In addition to vegetation management, the Asplundh Infrastructure Group is composed of a family of companies that design, build and maintain electric, gas and telecommunications distribution, transmission and lighting networks for utilities, developers, departments of transportation and municipal and other government agencies.

Asplundh employs more than 36,000 people in all 50 states and the U.S. Virgin Islands, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. The company has also become an industry leader in sustainable best practices, having recently begun publishing an annual sustainability report and pledging to reduce emissions to net zero by 2050.The anniversary will be recognized at a special meeting in Palm Springs, Florida, this October.

For a complete timeline of Asplundh’s 95-year history, you can click here. For more on the company, you can visit their Facebook page or watch this Youtube video:

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Photos courtesy of Asplundh Tree Expert, LLC