Company: Venture Outdoor Advertising
Markets: Missouri
Headquarters: 15664 Barton St., Overland Park, KS 66221
Phone: 913-730-8353
Venture Outdoor Advertising owns 62 billboard structures in Missouri. The company was started in 2013 by Randy Jackson. Prior to starting Venture, Jackson was a VP for CBS Outdoor in Los Angeles and a General Manager for Viacom Houston and Outdoor Systems in Kansas City and Denver.
How did you enter the outdoor business?
It started with a summer job at the age of 14 on the landscaping crew for Gannett Outdoor, Kansas City just after they acquired Combined Communications. Many of the trucks still had Eller Outdoor on the side. The new GM at the time was Arte Moreno. In college I was able to do an internship with Outdoor Systems in Denver. Upon graduation, and electing not to do law school, I landed an entry level position in the Denver office. In time I was sucked into the industry vortex that most who have at least two years experience find hard to leave.
What’s it like running your own company after having worked for larger outdoor companies?
In several ways it was more fun helping to build a business than manage it under a large corporate umbrella. I was well compensated to get an amazing education having the fortune to learn from, and with some of the best in the industry. Now I get to apply what may have been retained toward my own business.
Tell us about your plant.
Compared to what I previously managed, it is tiny. With that said, it is a tremendous collection of assets forming a strong foundation to build upon.
What’s the Missouri outdoor market like?
Where we operate the clients are primarily local, the campaigns are typically annual, and criteria for placement is geographic. We rarely get a request to deliver a 10 weekly rating point against a female, age 21-34 demographic who work out at least twice a week for a 12 week flight through the summer.
Do you have any digital billboards?
We installed our first digital face last Spring. It is from ADTI out of Southern California, and we have been very happy with its performance, utility cost, and their service from installation through management. I have learned how to schedule content because I no longer have someone to handle that task.