“I grew up on the water. My parents called us water bugs. We were raised as outdoor kids, spending our whole summers out on the boat, water skiing, making Tarzan swings,” says Tom Free, operations manager at Venture Trailers. “I was probably six when I learned water skiing. My father would put on water skis, put a little mini bike scooter tube around me. I’d stand on the skis and hold on to his arms as the boat would take off, and we’d ski around. When we were done, he’d let go of the rope, and we’d sink into the water. I’ve been water skiing ever since then.”
My wife will have the boat ready Friday, and we’ll spend the whole weekend out there. It feels like a week-long vacation.
– Tom Free, Operations Manager
Now, Tom manages the production floor for Venture Trailers – and still spends as much time as he can outdoors, on the water, and with his family.
My wife will have the boat ready Friday, and we’ll spend the whole weekend out there. It feels like a week-long vacation. Now the kids do it with the grandkids. They enjoy doing everything that we did as kids, even camping in the same camp spot that we camped in. It’s a good feeling, to see that continue,” he says.
Spending his life around boats, Tom learned one thing fundamental truth:
“The boat can’t go anywhere without the trailer. As kids, wherever we went, whenever we went, the boat was behind us. People don’t realize how valuable a trailer is.”
He started his career working at Bethlehem Steel, alongside his father who was a crane operator and his uncle who was an ace welder. But, he’d always wanted to work around boats and the water, so when the opportunity to work at Venture opened up, he says, “it was just meant to be.”
From the Loading Bay to the Production Floor
Tom started working with Venture on the loading bay — stacking, strapping, and loading trucks.
“At the time, the team was working a lot of overtime,” he says. Rather than accept that as the cost of doing business, Tom got to work fixing it. By implementing better procedures, he was about to keep the hours at 40 per week without sacrificing output.
That kind of initiative didn’t go unnoticed, and eventually Matt Van Slyke, president of Venture Trailers asked Tom to lead the operations team, overseeing every aspect of the trailer production process, or as he describes is “everything inside the building and out.”
“I oversee the flow of production, inventory, trucks, personnel,” he explains. “Making sure it’s all moving in the direction it’s supposed to go.” A lot of that comes down to following up with supervisors and staff to make sure the work is getting done. “It’s a bit mind-twisting at times,” he admits.
But he’s quick to credit the team that makes it work. “We really have a team out there that works excellent together. I can’t stop bragging about them. I don’t even have to ask them to do things. They step up and take initiative themselves.”
Ask Tom what keeps such a massive operation running smoothly, and the answer comes fast: communication. Clear communication can not only prevent things from “going sideways”, but Tom explains, “Spitballing ideas, just talking about how to make something better or more efficient — it’s amazing what will evolve out of that.”
He says that new ideas, innovation, and improvement are just how the team operates. “We never stop looking for ways to improve. We’ve made so many different technical and quality changes, all to make the product better for the customer,” he says.
The value of hard work is something he learned early in life from his parents, who he says were a huge influence on his approach to life.
“They were strict, but in a good way,” he recalls. “We were out working, picking tomatoes in the fields, collecting soda bottles, muskrat trapping. We became very independent.”
And, he wants to pass the same values along to his kids and grandkids, especially respect. “ I say it every day – never lower your standards to someone else’s. Maybe one day you can bring them up to where you are.”
A Team Where Everyone is There for Each Other
“I’ve worked with a lot of companies, and this company, even with all its growth, never outgrew the family orientation,” Tom says. “They make everyone feel like family.”
He’s seen it play out for others, too – colleagues dealing with challenges or facing hardship, and Matt and Stephanie stepping in without hesitation.
“As long as I’ve been here, I’ve never had to ask for anything. They’re always there to offer you whatever you need,” Tom says. “Family just knows when another family member needs something.”
After twelve years of watching Venture grow, his perspective is simple: “The growth has all been for the better. I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. It’s an amazing bunch. From top management all the way to the production floor.”
And outside of work, Tom says he did the “wild and crazy stuff” when he was younger, so now his idea of adventure is more simple. “I enjoy going out the boat, just anchor out there, spend a week out there just throwing around. That’s not outrageous, but that would be pretty outrageous to me.”