Company: Venture Outdoor Advertising

Markets: Missouri

Headquarters: 15664 Barton St., Overland Park, KS  66221

Phone: 913-730-8353

Venture Outdoor Advertising operates a billboard plant with  faces 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.  The company is a operator associate in the IBOUSA.

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.  In the process I was fortunate to have worked with, and learned from some of the best operators in the business.

What’s new over the past year.

 We actually lost several locations over the last year due to property sale and development.  The good news is the effected locations all were under good, long-term leases which allowed to negotiate fair market value for the assets to buy out the leases.

How many faces are you up to and how many of your total faces are digital?  

With the loss of faces we are down to around 100 static faces, and seven digital faces.

What are some of your objectives for the coming year?  

Our inventory remains very tight so looking to work increase in rate upon renewals.  I have not been actively pursuing new locations, but need to get out and kick some dirt.