Our Culture
Values That Drive Us
Our success is our people. We live for the pursuit of bold ideas, making a positive impact, and achieving our full potential. Our four differentiating values are at the heart of our company culture, which drives our company purpose — Finding a Better Way.
Watch Overview
Caring RelationshipsMAKING STRONG CONNECTIONS
We encourage our team members to foster fun, friendship, and compassion in all aspects of the job — with one another, our customers, our vendors, and our community partners.
The desire to make a difference extends well beyond our work and into communities far and wide. Volunteer paid time off and donation matching help our U.S. Venture communities support others with nearly 9,000 volunteer hours each year.
Making a difference, both locally and globally, is an integral part of our culture. Our Kenya Works | VICODEC partnership allows us to support students in Kenya while the money raised at the U.S. Venture Open helps end poverty in Wisconsin. Our work inspires us to find a better way to change the world.
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See how being involved with Kenya Works | VICODEC has helped Dawn and her family emphasize the importance of caring relationships.
The Kenya Works | VICODEC students and staff are near and dear to my heart. We sponsored a boy, Joseph, who was the same age as my son as a way to give back as a family and instill the value of caring relationships in our young son. I had the life changing opportunity to meet Joseph and his family when I attended the team member trip to Kenya. What an honor it was to meet Joseph, his mom, and brother in person.
After a few years, Joseph’s family became self-sufficient and they were able to support his schooling as a family. At that point, we were able to sponsor Edigan and Mary. We decided to sponsor two Kenya Works | VICODEC students using the U.S. Venture company match program for a second student. We are so grateful for the opportunity to work hand-in-hand with our friends at Kenya Works | VICODEC.
— Dawn, U.S. Venture Open Manager
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See how Todd gives back to his community through his work as an assistant fire chief.
The desire to make a difference extends well beyond our work and into our communities far and wide. I have been a volunteer firefighter for the past 16 years and part of my job as assistant chief is to volunteer my time educating elementary students on how to stay safe in case of fire. In fact, I typically use my eight hours of volunteer time off to visit elementary students during fire safety week to share the ins and outs of fire safety while also allowing the kids to get comfortable seeing emergency personnel in all their gear. Our goal is to remind the kids that we are there to help and being able to spend time teaching our youth and act as a resource for my community has been so rewarding. Having an employer like U.S. Venture, who encourages community involvement, is a huge perk and reminds me of the good people I am surrounded by.
— Todd, Manager of Terminal Operations at U.S. Energy
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See why Melissa’s daughter is her inspiration to give back.
Several years ago, we were unable to travel back “home” to visit family over the Thanksgiving holiday, so we volunteered at Rico’s Family Restaurant serving free Thanksgiving meals to those who didn’t have one. After that, giving back and volunteering our time was something my daughter got extremely passionate about. She has such a huge heart and this was something we could do together.
Some years we’ve put together gift bags for the kids at the children’s hospital in Neenah, we’ve filled stockings so clients at non-profit agencies could have a warmer Christmas morning, and we’ve written cards to nursing home residents. It’s about letting our community members know they aren’t forgotten, especially during the holiday season. It means so much to us to be able to bring a smile to their faces. That’s really the inspiration behind it. And spending time with my daughter while giving back to our community…that’s something I will forever cherish.
—Melissa, Administrative Specialist
Entrepreneurial SpiritPUSHING THE LIMITS
We lead by taking risks, cultivating ideas, and pushing boundaries to drive change. We inspire our team members to think like business owners, embrace innovation, and believe they can make things better.
Regardless of role or tenure at U.S. Venture, we are always looking for ways to grow our talent and promote from within.
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See what motivates Jessy to keep learning, growing, and having fun.
I started the Manager in Training (MIT) program in August of 2020 while also finishing my degree in hospitality. This was a complete career shift for me due to Covid, but I quickly came to love this new role. The team at U.S. AutoForce really focuses on culture and bringing everyone together. It truly feels like a family and a place where I want to continue learning and growing. After I finished my MIT program, I transitioned into the warehouse, became an interim operations manager, and then eventually opened our Detroit warehouse from the ground up.
I’ve moved a lot throughout my short time here but being able to learn under various leadership styles has been instrumental in my career development. Being a female in a predominately male industry, I’ve always had amazing support. The leadership is dedicated to helping my team and I to continue growing and learning…it never feels like a competition, rather a high level of support from the top down.
— Jessy, Operations Manager U.S. AutoForce
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See how Lori has embraced our culture of entrepreneurial spirit by pushing the boundaries and using self-growth as a motivator for change.
Working for U.S. Venture and embracing our entrepreneurial spirit, I recently found myself back in the classroom at Cornell University pursuing my Executive Master’s in Human Resources. Through our tuition reimbursement program and the support of my leaders and peers, U.S. Venture made my decision to enroll very easy. I had a burning desire to continue to grow my skills to make more dynamic and longer-term contributions to the organization. Self-growth and continuous learning allows me to bring more perspective to U.S. Venture, along with those I lead and serve.
Our entrepreneurial value is personal for me, as I would like others to see me as an entrepreneur. For me this is someone who pushes boundaries, is a source of new ideas and thought leadership, drives innovation and growth, and most importantly someone who uses their skills and initiatives to anticipate ongoing future needs and brings solutions. Entrepreneurs have a passion for action and are driven to find a way to get things done. Going back to school for me was part of “getting it done” and has positioned me to deliver longer-term ROI through people strategies and business transformation.
— Lori, Vice President of Human Resources Operations
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See how Mike demonstrated his entrepreneurial mindset to spearhead building a successful division within the U.S. Venture businesses.
From the start, U.S. Venture was built on team members having an entrepreneurial spirit and a culture where we were inspired to think big. Leadership knew that being able to adjust and find solutions as our industries continued to evolve, would set us up for success.
Out of college, I traded natural gas for eight years and it really ignited a passion to find a cleaner, greener solution to energy sources. Fast forward to working at U.S. Venture years later, and I was empowered to think outside the box…to find solutions to the ever-changing fuel market and move our business unit’s forward with new technology and resources. Around 2009, compressed natural gas (CNG) was becoming a threat to traditional fuel and I took the initiative to spearhead a brand new division for U.S. Venture to find cleaner, American made, and cheaper resources for our clients. Today, we continue to find a better way through integrating renewable natural gas (RNG) developed from landfill, dairy, and wastewater sources to provide for the growing demand for sustainable energy solutions. As our business units expand to meet market demands, we continue to seek new ways to find renewable energy sources, take risks, put our environment first, and forever wear our entrepreneurial hats.
— Mike, President of U.S. Energy
Strategic ForesightREDEFINING THE FUTURE
We seek out and develop team members who are eager to grow professionally. We’re focused on aligning company leaders to strategic business innovation and results and encourage our team members to use a forward-thinking approach to broaden our perspectives and visualize the future.
We’ve built a trusting culture that empowers our team members to think big … driving operational excellence into all aspects of our organization.
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See how Angela collaborates with other teams at U.S. Venture to use forward-thinking and technology to innovate and dream big.
Our Journey to Robotic Process Automation
In an era where technology is evolving at an accelerated pace, our culture of empowerment and future-forward thinking has allowed our organization to come up with some pretty exciting, innovative ways to streamline processes. Partnering with our technology and data teams, we’ve identified opportunities throughout the company to save time, improve service levels, and create a more satisfying work experience for our team members through the use of Robotic Process Automation. We pride ourselves in having a team at U.S. Venture that collaboratively works together to find a better way, continuing to drive us forward.
— Angela, Senior Director Finance Digital Transformation
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Learn how Sherry challenges herself and her team to use data and strategic foresight to see big results.
As VP of Branded Operations, I’m constantly challenging myself and my team to not only report on where the business is today, but where we’re heading tomorrow. Having the foresight into what tomorrow may hold, starts with data. We track and analyze operational, portfolio, and growth data to spot trends and areas for growth to improve the bottom line. Sharing this data with our sales leaders, we can then spot opportunities and focus our business development managers and customer account representatives on leads and accounts that help us win in the marketplace.
— Sherry, Vice President of Branded Operations at U.S. Energy
High PerformanceGOING THE EXTRA MILE
We ask our team members to broaden our perspectives, asking “why” and “when” to help us visualize a future-focused road map for our success.
Setting, achieving, and following through with goals is an important part of success. Whether it’s a personal goal or business goal, we’re dedicated to helping our team members grow so we can transform the future together.
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Learn how Heather and her team elevate client experiences down to every last detail.
“The Mercury Group started over 10 years ago as a way for us to work face-to-face with our shipper clients and has transformed into a community of leaders dedicated to revolutionizing the transportation industry. In an era where it’s often hard to differentiate one conference from the next, my team and I made it our goal to push the limits, stand out from the norm, and elevate our partnerships.
Gathering annually at Mercury Group allows us to share best practices and what the future of transportation holds through peer-based learning and collaboration. Asking our clients what they want to learn about and bringing in keynote speakers to foster learning and innovation allows us to connect in a unique way and do things differently. Our culture, brand, and research teams provide our clients with a jam-packed schedule to benefit their bottom line and a roadmap for strategic planning which has been groundbreaking for our industry, and everyone involved.
Each year brings a new theme, vision, and as of late, a virtual component and our team is steadfast in adapting and challenging how content is delivered, regardless of limitations. Being able to pivot, while still providing an exceptional experience, felt really empowering. Our secret? Creating an event unlike any other and making every single detail intentional. That’s the Breakthrough experience…focusing on making a difference as a strategic transportation partner every step of the way.”
— Heather, Chief Marketing and Product Officer, Breakthrough
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