Bob Allen loves trees. Really loves them. Just ask anyone, because chances are, he’s probably talked to them about trees. He has tree-themed tattoos, a tree-related license plate, and can usually be seen wearing a neck chain with an acorn or pinecone pendant. His backyard is home to a collection of more than 150 varieties of trees, with 40 more scheduled to be planted this fall. And of course, Bob has been an arborist at Eversource for nearly 40 years. During that time, he’s worked across all three states, created four utility arboretums, and been an integral part of the company’s communications outreach during storm restorations. After a career well-spent in Vegetation Management, Bob Allen is retiring this month.

Bob is fond of quoting his fellow Springfield, MA native, Dr. Seuss: “I am the Lorax, I speak for the trees.” You probably recognize him from Eversource’s social media pages. Over the years, he’s been a recurring presence in more than a dozen videos, teaching Eversource customers how to choose trees at nurseries, and how to care for their trees in the fall. He’s educated us about the effects of drought and excess rainfall, and—during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, when many were cooped up at home—encouraged people to celebrate Arbor Day by going outside, taking a walk with family, and appreciating the trees in their neighborhood. “He breaks things down very simply so that every person on the street can understand and appreciate what he’s talking about,” said Director of Strategic Communications Mary-Jo Boisvert. “I think he has a real gift.”

A knack for creating connections

After studying arboriculture at UMass Amherst, Bob became an arborist at Western Mass Electric Company (WMECo), and then moved to Connecticut for a similar role at Connecticut Light & Power (CL&P). He had a knack for talking to customers. Bob Coates, now the President of NH Electric Operations, worked with Bob Allen in those early years, and was impressed by his ability to listen. “He would listen to the customer’s concern with great intent, and was thoughtful in his response,” said Coates. “He would explain, in layman’s terms, what we were doing, why we were doing it, how we were doing it, how it was good for the system, how it was good for the customer, and how it was good for the tree.” Coates noted that Bob was also quick with a joke, and knew how to create a smile in a tense encounter. “He was able to use humor to de-escalate stressful situations with a great deal of dignity and respect.”

It’s probably no surprise that Bob is a natural teacher. As he began taking more vegetation management roles around CT, his good nature and expertise led him to become a mentor with newer employees in the department. One of those people was Susan Stotts, who met him when she was working for Lewis Tree Service. “I’m really here because of Bob,” said Stotts. When an opening came up at CL&P, “Bob called me up, and he said, ‘Susan, you need to apply for this job.’” And with that, Stotts became an arborist at CL&P’s New London area work center, where she still works today. “Bob really believed in me, and he gave me a lot of opportunities to learn new things,” she said. Stotts recalled a recent meeting with a 90-year-old customer where she “channeled Bob.” The customer had lived at her home in Stonington for 65 years, and was getting a new service installed. As they toured the property, Stotts impressed the customer by naming all of the trees they came across. “It was phenomenal, like Bob was flowing through me. I don’t know how else to put it, but I connected with her and it was wonderful.”

The number one cause of power outages

Sean Redding, who now leads Eversource’s Vegetation Management department, met Bob at CL&P in 1997. At the time, Redding was the arborist for construction projects, and Bob handled customer interactions and requests. “My expertise is in managing a forest,” said Redding. “Bob’s is in tree care: assessing, climbing, trimming, and all that. So we have very different backgrounds, but they’re complementary.” That duality of vegetation management couldn’t be more important than in Eversource’s service territory, where New Hampshire vies with Maine for the top spot on the Most Forested States list, with CT and MA being numbers five and six, respectively.

In 2009, Bob went to work for Public Service of New Hampshire (PSNH), which, like CL&P and WMECo, was part of Northeast Utilities. PSNH had just completed its largest-ever storm restoration following the December 2008 ice storm, where trees played a huge role in the state-wide devastation. “When Bobby Allen told me he was moving to NH, I asked him how he picked the town he was moving to,” recalled Doug Foley, now President of MA Electric Operations. “He said it was the hardest hit community during the 2008 ice storm, and he wanted to understand why that was, and also to live in what he called a hardy community. To me, that highlights Bob’s love for forestry and understanding the NH landscape, but also his commitment to our customers.”

 

According to Redding, Bob’s experience was invaluable for NH, a state that was only beginning to see more high-impact storms. “The key is that Bob had the understanding of how trees respond in an individual storm, but then also the cumulative effect of all of these other factors: environmental, weather, diseases and insects,” he said. In other words, the why this was happening. “It really helped explain things internally to operations, to senior management, but also externally to the regulators, the towns, and customers.”

Bob could see and speak to all of these topics individually, and then bring them together to explain what the company was doing to alleviate the issue. In Strategic Communications, Boisvert quickly recognized Bob’s gift for talking to the public, and saw him as an ally in explaining tree-related issues to customers and the media. After all, trees are the number one cause of power outages. “He was never afraid to put himself out there,” she said. “He saw the value in educating customers, and how it would have long-term impact. And you know what I loved about it? He was so comfortable in his own skin. He felt like the guy next door who had this inherent integrity. Customers just trust him.”

Be sure to check out Part 2 of this profile. Find out how Bob created the first utility arboretum, and why his favorite tree is wherever his his eyes land on in the given moment.