Richfield businesses help build community

by Noell Wolfgram Evans

Davey Steps Up

In 2017 Davey Resource Group, a subsidiary of Davey Tree Experts, opened a regional  office on Wheatley Road in Richfield, in the Kinross Lakes business park. Specializing in vegetation and environmental management, the international company has supported community outreach since its founding in 1890.

In 2024 alone, the Richfield employees raised over $700 for The Akron Canton Food Bank in the Harvest for Hunger campaign. They sponsored 20 children as part of the Ben Curtis Foundation Giving Tree and volunteered monthly at the Akron Canton Foodbank. 

In addition, they set up collection areas for Aluminum Cans for Burned Children and hosted multiple Red Cross blood drives.

Jill Rebuck, senior project manager, corporate communications, said the company has also sponsored local baseball and softball teams and supported the Revere Middle School PTA. 

GMS Logs the Hours
5,063. That’s the number of hours Roberto Capotosto, vice president of marketing at Group Management Services, estimated that their employees volunteered last year across the entire company. GMS is a professional services company headquartered in Richfield on Timberlake Drive, with offices across the country. While all of their offices are involved in giving back to their communities in some way, it is the Richfield office that leads the charge.

Each month, Capotosto said, they host what is essentially a day of service known as GMS Cares. On that day, employees can spend time helping at a community organization in their community. In 2024, GMS employees could be found working in animal shelters, packing food baskets, serving food in community kitchens, and helping veteran organizations. 

“Our employees love it,” Capotosto said, “because it helps them feel closer to the community. We like to do it as a company because it’s important to give something back.”

At GMS, that opportunity to make meaningful contributions to the community is not regulated to one day a month. Each year the company provides each employee with a set number of hours that they can use to volunteer where they most feel a personal connection.

Other companies 

Some of the other large companies operating in Richfield offer direct financial donations, sharing moments of time, and using employee skills to educate and train others. Seeing the involvement of local companies shows an additional side of the business community. Smaller companies are also frequently asked for, and respond to, requests for raffle prizes and donations. And they give in substantial ways. 

Photo caption: Employees of Davey Resource Group in Richfield volunteered at the Akron-Canton Regional Food Bank in December 2024. Shown are (l-r) Aaron Kline, David Williams, Mareena Michael, Tom Usher, Jeff LaFond, Emily Harville and Kayelynn Handzus. Photo submitted