Engineering Future Ventures

Five years ago, Tyler Kane walked into Venture Trailers for a job interview, and promptly canceled all his others.

“I met Matt and Steph,” he recalls. “And, I saw the opportunity that was just all over the place on the production side of things. I decided to cancel all my other interviews and accept Venture’s offer upfront.”

With a degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Delaware, Tyler didn’t expect to land in the trailer industry. “In college, they set you up to think everyone’s going to Tesla or NASA,” he laughs. “But as a small business, Venture has offered a perfect balance of allowing me to work with the tools that I was taught in college and grooming me into the more business-oriented world”

Today, Tyler leads a wide range of initiatives across design, manufacturing, and sales support. “We’re like the oracles in the back,” he jokes. “We keep the ship floating, it’s a lot of design work, a lot of manufacturing, and a lot of making sure that the interface between the sales and the production floor is seamless.” His day might involve designing a custom trailer for a specialty jet boat, programming CNC equipment, or troubleshooting a tricky spec request from a dealer.

That variety is exactly what he loves most. “I’m a bit of a masochist,” he says with a grin. “I like responsibility. I love that I’ve been trusted to make decisions that impact the company, and the dealers, every day.”

One of his proudest accomplishments is a major partnership with a jet boat company that required a complete departure from Venture’s standard trailer models. Tyler spearheaded the design of new axles, fenders, and manufacturing templates to meet the client’s specs. “It was my magnum opus,” he says. “So far we’ve built 17 of those trailers and the customer is extremely happy. We were able to go pretty far outside our comfort zone as far as original equipment manufacturing and it was a great success.”

It’s not just about technical precision, though. Tyler serves as a key bridge between sales and production, often stepping in to prevent miscommunications from turning into warranty issues. “My job is to make sure the customer gets the right trailer for their boat, at the right price,” he says. “Even if they never know my name, the impact is there in every smooth delivery and happy dealer.”

That behind-the-scenes impact is part of what keeps him energized. The other part is the people.

“Venture’s culture is genuinely caring,” he says. “We all work hard, and we work to make sure our customers are taken care of. Matt and Steph go out of their way to show appreciation, like giving us a paid day off just because. That kind of thing means a lot.”

Looking ahead, Tyler’s got big ideas for what’s next. While Venture continues to refine its core trailer manufacturing, Tyler sees innovation on the fabrication side as the key to long-term growth. He recently led the implementation of a brand new machining center, an investment that’s already improved efficiency.

He’s also championing automation and in-house part production as a way to give Venture even more control over quality and cost. “The next big leap, in my mind, is steel fabrication,” he says. “We’re just starting to dip our toes in aluminum now. But the possibilities are exciting.”

One thing’s for sure: Tyler isn’t coasting. “This place has taken me in so many directions, design, sales, fabrication, automation. It’s never boring,” he says. “If I could go back, I’d make the same decision a hundred times out of a hundred.”