Small Business Spotlight

You think you know a little something about a person. Then you find out how little you do know. There are so many interesting stories out there and Rob Calley, owner of Backridge Tree Service, is one of them. Born in Liberia, Africa. Rob’s parents were Peace Corps volunteers who believed in JFK’s admonishment, “Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.” His mom was raised on a dairy farm in Oregon and met his dad in, a teacher, who also learned how to do logging.

Rob grew up in Oregon helping his dad, participating in 4H, and grew to love nature. He attended college at the University of Kansas and wanted to be an Air Force Pilot pursing a degree in aerospace engineering on scholarship. He didn’t like it. Changing his major to environmental studies, he had a choice of paying back two-and-a-half years of scholarship or enlisting. He graduated in 1993 and enlisted in the United States Air Force in April of 1994. He was stationed at Hurlburt Field as maintenance crew chief for the MC130E Combat Talon. He loved the plane and its history but didn’t like the work, so he got out in 1997 to work for a tree service. After learning a lot of what not to do, Rob started Backridge Tree Service January 1, 1998. The name comes from a summer job Rob had when he was 21 years old. He and his fellow ranch hands were gathering yearlings in Gold Beach, Oregon. The movie City Slickers was big at the time. The actual cowboys were rounding up cattle. All of a sudden, all these cows started thundering down over the back ridge. Rob knew if he ever owned a business, whether it was an accounting firm or a hair salon, it would have to be called Backridge.

A friend, who was a flight engineer at Tinker AFB, told Rob how cool the job was and encouraged him to find out if there were any openings. Armed with letters of recommendation, Rob called and met with the chief in charge at the time at Duke Field. He got the job. He went to school and ran Backridge Tree Service on the side. September 11th happened. Rob was TDY in Darwin, Australia having carried a Seal Team over there. Recovering in his room after eating a steak called the T-Rex, watching the Sopranos, there was an interruption in programming. Rob was deployed to Afghanistan three times during 2002 and 2003. He remembers his crew flying President Karzai one night when someone was trying to kill him at a wedding in Kandahar.

Backridge Tree Service was struggling. It was only him. He had no crew. He deactivated from the military and focused on learning and growing his business during 2004 to 2006. The economy went south and tree service companies were fighting for every contract. A competitor who was competing with Rob for a particular contract challenged Rob’s credentials saying he couldn’t even pass the Certified Arborist test. That was all the catalyst Rob needed. He studied, took the test, and passed it. He says he went from a tree guy to a serious arborist with the accompanying responsibility to do a good job. More is expected.

He got involved in the Florida Tree Climbing Championships where he met the incoming president of the Florida Chapter of the International Society of Arboriculture (ISA). They discussed the lack of training, licensing, and safety problems in Florida. Florida has the second highest death rate in the United States, just behind California. He met great people and his influence grew. He became a Board Certified Master Arborist in 2017; the only one in the Panhandle. There were only 1000 in the world. He was asked to be on the board of directors for ISA where he served for seven years becoming president in 2020.

Expectations for himself rose and he started teaching. He held training events and taught safety and climbing. He co-developed an introduction to tree climbing course and tree care training. He received grants to teach arborists during 2016 through 2020. He was growing in professionalism.  He started lobbying for state licensing. There was a bill in session in 2022 but he and like-minded colleagues are still fighting the fight. They are hoping 2025 is a productive year. An arborist in south Florida could be elected to the state legislature. She won her primary. The more relevant arborists become, the more likely there will be licensing. Insurance companies are now considering using arborists to assess tree risk on properties.

Rob is passionate about safety and tree care. He is a staunch advocate for continual training and using the proper techniques. He is especially proud of working with Dr. Ed Gillman on the Prescription Pruning Qualification and says it’s a game-changer. Rob runs a five-person crew and even invites competitor’s employees to training events. 

When asked if he has any advice for fellow entrepreneurs, Rob says this:

• You are going to fail a lot. Use it to learn and build strength.
• Never be afraid or intimidated to ask questions of people in your field who know more than you do.
• Aspire to increase your knowledge and understanding of your field.
• Grow as a professional before you grow in size.

Every industry is constantly growing and changing. Rob remembers a story a colleague told him. This colleague was passing a tree guy working on a tree in someone’s yard. He stopped to tell the guy he was doing some things improperly. The tree guy said, “I’ve been doing this for 20 years.” Rob’s colleague said, “Then you’ve been doing year one twenty times.”