Management

Russ Davis - President and CEO

Russ Davis is the President and Chief Operating Officer for Arborjet Inc. Russ has an extensive background in operating technology businesses with a passion for environmental stewardship. At Arborjet, Russ is active in all phases of the business including strategic planning, marketing, product development, engineering, field trials, operations, and sales. Over the past several years, Russ’s goal has been to emphasize Arborjet’s position as an innovative and responsible leader in the industry. During this time, Arborjet has been able to expand its line of environmentally friendly products while increasing awareness and education throughout the USA. Thanks in large to Russ’s leadership, Arborjet has established itself as the most innovative company in the industry with products that are recognized as sustainable, affordable and effective.
Prior to Arborjet, Russ was the President of a $200M division of ITT Industries with business operations in 5 countries. He has traveled extensively to over 30 countries to form partnerships and manage offshore operations. While at ITT, Russ was also recognized for his environmental stewardship when he was a recipient of an ITT Presidents Award for environmental sustainability. This award is given to only three individuals or teams out of 34,000 employees worldwide. Russ has a Bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering, an MBA in International Management and he has studied at the Ashridge Business School in the United Kingdom. Russ is also a network partner with Bunker Hill Capital in Boston.

John Manganiello - V.P. of Finance

A long-standing member of the Arborjet team, John has been with the company for more than 10 years. John is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts – Boston with a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting. He brought his accounting background to Arborjet, where he serves as Controller and head of the Accounting Department. John oversees all of Arborjet’s financial responsibilities, including order processing, budgeting, and payroll.
John is married and is a dedicated father, who enjoys coaching soccer and spending time at his children’s sporting events and activities.

Rob Gorden - Director of Urban Forestry and Business Development

Rob provides training and support to municipalities and industry leaders who are evaluating treatment options for invasive pests across the country. Rob also manages Arborjet’s Technical support team located across the United States.
He has worked with city councils, public officials, arborists, and other stakeholders to identify and address practical and financial considerations when weighing treatment options against the removal of urban forest trees around the USA.
Rob has enjoyed 30 years in the green industry including sales and sales management, horticultural education and training, specification, and operations management with companies such as Lesco, RainBird, and Chemlawn, among others.
He was a certified Arborist in the State of Connecticut and has held pesticide licensure in 6 states. Rob is a certified instructor in the State of NY. While in distribution, he managed 18 Lesco stores which serviced the green industry. Rob has gained practical experience against a diversity of plants, pests, and environmental situations throughout the country while developing an appreciation for the political implications of urban forest management.
His undergraduate work in Pre-Med was performed at Providence College and his graduate studies in Forestry occurred at Auburn University. A native of Rhode Island, Rob has lived in 6 states while enriching his educational and professional opportunities, and now resides in western Massachusetts.

Mark Andrews - Director of Commercial Sales

Mark joined the Arborjet team in the summer of 2017 as the Director of Commercial Sales; including Golf, Sports Turf, Commercial Grow, and Nursery. In this newly created role, he is responsible for developing and growing sales channel business and encouraging profitable revenue for the company’s line of professional and retail plant health products.
Mark brings a dedicated career of business development and retail channel experience to the company. Prior to his role at Arborjet, he spent 22 years with ITT working in the Innovation Lab as Global Director of Sales, and was also Global Sales Manager at Xylem, Inc. Mark is a Value Based Six Sigma – Certified Green Belt, and is also a graduate of St. Anselm College with a BA degree in Liberal Arts (Business and Politics).
Outside of Arborjet, Mark enjoys being active and spending time with his family, as well as landscaping, gardening, and golf.

Trent Dicks - Eastern Area Technical Manager

Trent has over 20 years of experience in Landscape and Nursery sales and operations. He holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Agri-Business Horticulture from Illinois State University and an Associate’s Degree in Applied Science and Horticulture. Trent is a graduate of Dale Carnegie training.
In 2018 Trent took on a new role as Eastern Area Technical Manager, providing a senior level of oversight to Arborjet’s Regional Technical Managers in the eastern United States. He still remains as the main resource and point of contact for the Mid-Atlantic territory.
For 14 years, he lived in the Midwest, managed a garden center, and ran small Nursery and Landscape company. Trent was the Landscape Designer and Operation Manager at Moon Landscaping for 6 years, where he managed large estates & plant health care. When Trent finds himself with free time he enjoys hunting, fishing, gardening and sports.

Ron Sims - Western Area Technical Manager

Joining us in the Spring of 2020 is Ron, our new Western Regional Manager. He will focus on the counties of San Diego, Los Angeles, and Orange County, including the Coachella Valley region. Ron will also manage Arborjet’s Regional Technical Managers, West of Illinois.

Ron is an experienced sales executive with a background in Information Systems, Horticulture, Agriculture, and he has worked in the Nursery Industry for 12 years. He specializes in building world class sales teams and has serviced National Accounts with Costco, Home Depot, Lowe’s, Walmart as well as independent garden centers (Armstrong, Moon Nursery & Green Thumb) and national distributors, such as SiteOne, Target, Nutrien, Helena, and Central Garden & Pet. His passion for our industry comes from a drive to help consumers find quality products and services that are eco-friendly, sustainable and solve problems to everyday challenges in arborcare, plant health and horticulture.

His role at Arborjet will be to manage the Western Regional Technical Managers, and to develop impactful relationships with distributors, executives, branch managers, and applicators to drive overall sales at the company. Sims has a proven track record in improving the customer experience, and has successfully achieved double digit sales growth across multiple platforms. He is also proud of his accomplishments on the ball field as the Head Coach of the 2019 10u USSSA World Champion travel team.

Sims is a graduate of Orange Coast College in Costa Mesa, CA with a degree in Associate Psychology and Business Management, and a Bachelor of Science in Business from Penn State World Campus, and holds multiple other certifications. When he’s not in the office, you can catch Ron coaching local youth sports, enjoying a round of golf, or gardening.