In the interest of fairness, Kurt Schenkemeyer should have known what to expect at Argents. His father worked in management at Lufthansa for thirty-one years and Kurt himself was a twenty-three year veteran of the industry – ten years of which he spent in friendly competition with Dagny Chiappetta as they navigated clients, conferences, and networking events. Starting in a warehouse while in college, Kurt began unloading trucks, building crates and loading containers. When he finished college, he moved inside to an office position and began collecting his operations knowledge by getting hands-on with the various facets of a transportation career. His experience and credentials were stellar, and his understanding of delivering on client needs was second to none. Even still, Argents was not what Kurt expected.
“For the first six months, they brought me to Hilton Head and treated me like family. So many people came into my office, opened up, talked, shared, just really wanted to know who I was and how I was doing,” Kurt says. “Once we established a relationship, they trusted my experience, valued my voice and respected my expertise. Everyone, from the top brass to the people in the warehouse, from one end of the spectrum to the other, they made it so easy to flourish.”
The family atmosphere, open communication and pattern of positive reinforcement was supported by a team of people who are easy to work with, committed to excellence and dedicated to their clients.
“It’s easy to work with people who are the best and the brightest. The mutual passion to find new challenges and keep the job interesting really shows at Argents. Here, customers grow with you and we see them just thriving because we keep them happy. I really love traveling and since the pandemic, I’ve missed being face to face with clients and partners. It’s important to have a personal touch with people, shake their hands and look them in the eye. That’s how you know your work matters.”
Kurt’s vision for the future extends beyond just seeing his clients in person. He’s eagerly building a strong team of the right people to meet the post-pandemic moment. New cargo, interesting challenges, fresh technology and robust e-commerce always add a new dimension of difficulty that offers a sense of accomplishment and a never-ending cycle of improving, learning and teamwork.
When he’s not directing the development of the air export team in Chicago or helping the company take full advantage of the Cargowise platform, Kurt spends his time being a dad to his two kids. His daughter, a gymnast, and his son, a football player, are living examples of the hard work and commitment required whether competing individually or as part of a team. Kurt embodies those lessons every day with his work and family.
“Anything worth doing is worth doing well. Our clients know that if they call us, we’ll work harder, go farther, and meet them where they are while we work tirelessly to get their cargo where it needs to go,” Kurt finishes.
The Argents family is grateful to have him on our team.