Delta Defense, LLC

We set “BHAG” goals (big, hairy, and audacious), and we don’t settle for average growth in our organization.  We have a massive opportunity within our industry that is barely tapped in terms of our product, and we see it as our responsibility to increase that awareness as part of our mission to stop violent crime and SAVE LIVES.  

We have several big initiatives in play to help us reach these goals.  With that comes employee development and career opportunities.  In our last all-employee survey, we had a 91% favorable score on the question “I am encouraged to be innovative in my job (trying new things).

Delta Defense continually provides employees with tools and resources for personal and professional achievement. We encourage all employees to create a dream board that identifies experiences, development, objects, and community goals they’d like to achieve. It is one of the most satisfying things we see when employees share their stories of crossing off an item from their dream board.

Delta Defense’s mission is not solely a poster on the wall but embodies all aspects of decision-making and initiatives at Delta Defense. We showcase that our culture is unlike other companies. It is refreshing for candidates to know that our core values drive us. We ask candidates to complete a core values essay as part of the recruitment process. This allows for mutual, true transparency and alignment.

Our Core Values include:

We believe in our inalienable right to self-defense.
We give a $hit.
Complancency kills.
We have a growth mindset.
We're built different.

Delta Defense's President, Mike Lowney, has received an outstanding approval rating from current and former employees. He leads with a simple philosophy: set the vision, build the right team, and trust them to execute.

Employees describe him as a leader who sets the vision, builds the team, and then gets out of the way, a player-coach who hires people better than himself and steps back to let them do the work. He makes daily rounds through headquarters to check in with employees at every level, and he's known for telling his team, "I'm weird, but you will always know where you stand."

That authenticity, paired with genuine trust in his people, defines how he leads. Mike carries forward the culture and mission that co-founders Tim and Tonnie Schmidt built, prioritizing Delta's culture and employee engagement every day.

This year, we brought the Sheepdog culture to life. Built on employee input from every department, Culture 2.0 culminated in a company-wide event that brought team members from across the country to our headquarters in West Bend, WI! We had over 500 team members come to West Bend, Wisconsin, to celebrate, connect, and embrace our updated Core Values, and from that, our new belief system.

It introduced the Sheepdog framework, now captured in our playbook, "Built Different: The Sheepdog Playbook." The result was a renewed sense of purpose and belonging across the organization. It was not a corporate rollout. It was a declaration of who Delta Defense is and how we approach the future.

We know what got us to where we are today, needed to be redefined for the future. We embrace "always upgrading" and being "member obsessed." These are our two foundational principles that came from our Culture 2.0 Launch. It shows up in how we treat our members and our team.

We offer a competitive total rewards program. A few unique elements include: Employee Counseling—We have two full-time, on-site licensed mental health therapists available to all our employees for personal and professional coaching. We reward our team members who reach a milestone service anniversary with a bonus to use as they wish. The intent is to give them some funds to take time off and create a remarkable memory for/with their families after giving so much of their time to the company. It’s not required to be used for a vacation, though; they have total flexibility in how to use it. We have a charitable match program for all employees to a charity of their choice. Specifically, during our annual United Way campaign, not only does Delta match employee contributions, but the Co-Owners also match contributions, making the employee dollars have three times the impact. We provide a “Make It Personal Allowance,” which reimburses employees for home office improvements/items, fitness equipment/gym memberships, and personal or home protection items. Our annual company incentive bonus for employees who are not on a commission plan includes an individual performance factor in addition to company performance.