Category: Company News

United Radio takes part in SCSD ITC Summer Bridge Program

United Radio employees Mike Fabery and Daniel Salisbury represented United Radio in the Syracuse City School District’s Institute of Technology Central’s P-TECH Summer Bridge Program. Three groups of 10th graders made presentations to Mike and Daniel on providing solutions to the business challenge, “How to share lessons learned on repair of products for crossover training of technicians or future employees.” According to Mike Fabery, “The students provided solutions we hadn’t even thought about!” Business Challenge to the students At United Radio, we service all types of electronics.  Whether it’s a handheld two-way radio, a stereo receiver from your house, or a sound system in your vehicle, we repair a diverse array of products.  We have specialized technicians who can determine the root cause of the problem and repair the unit so it is fully functional again.  But what happens when that tech learns of a solution?  What if the same failure happens again?  How do you know what you did before?  Before computers and the availability of electronic schematics, we received paper schematics.  So, if you were a technician and found a problem, you could make a note on the schematic of what you found.  With today’s technology, although it is more efficient, it is often hard to create a common process of how to share the information.  We are asking the teams to suggest a solution that would be easily accessible to any of the technical staff and focused on the model number of the unit.  We would like a technician to be able to find out past failures that we have seen before, if any.  Possibilities are a Web portal, Spreadsheet, or other electronic medium to perform that search.  The information should include the model number of the unit, complaint of the problem, solution found, and the ability to upload photos or other materials.  A plus would have a way to track the quantity of solutions as well. Business Solutions from the students Below are the three PowerPoint presentations with each group’s proposed solutions. 10th Grade P-Tech Summer Bridge Presentation UR Solution The website addon Thanks to Mike and Daniel for taking part in this program!

United Radio to hold grand opening of new Salt Lake City operation

SYRACUSE, NY — United Radio, a provider of remanufacturing and repair solutions for the electronics industry worldwide, will hold a grand opening celebration of its new Western Operation located in Salt Lake City on Thursday, August 4th. The ceremony is scheduled to begin at 3:30 p.m. and includes tours, a cocktail reception and dinner for invited guests. Earlier in the day, United Radio will be hosting a Service Summit session, bringing together leaders in their industry to network, share problem-solving ideas and more. Headquartered in Syracuse, NY, United Radio first operated a temporary location in Salt Lake City starting in December of 2020. The new facility, which has just over 146,000 square feet, is located at 1635 South 5070 West, Suite A1 in Salt Lake City. “The expansion to Salt Lake City has allowed us to better meet from the needs of our customers on the west coast, as well as provide better coverage throughout the entire country,” said Phillip Rubenstein, United Radio President. “United Radio has been able to expand our capabilities and meet our customer’s ever-growing needs with our new, larger facility.” United Radio is also looking to hire workers for electronics repair, warehouse operations and administrative positions at its Salt Lake City location. “We search for dynamic, goal-oriented individuals with an entrepreneurial spirit to share our vision and commitment to excellence,” said Mara Charlamb, United Radio Vice President and Human Resources Director. “Customer service begins and ends with a positive attitude. Attitude is everything and we often hire attitude and teach skill. Our people are what makes us great. If you are looking for a diverse, stable, safe, fun, and dynamic workplace, we have a position for you.” Headquartered in Syracuse, NY, and with repair and distribution centers in Peachtree City, GA and Salt Lake City, UT, United Radio is able to provide repair and remanufacturing solutions to electronics manufacturers worldwide. Focusing on automotive electronics, consumer electronics, communications products and advanced research and development, the 99-year-old company has established itself as a world leader in creating innovative solutions to the emerging technological needs of its customers.

United Radio employees featured on WAER podcast

United Radio employees Brad Wiley, Apriah Scruggs-Muhammad and Mike Fabery were featured in this WAER FM-88 City Limits podcast, “A Working Dilemma – Filling the Job Vacancy Void with Technical Training?” Businesses and manufacturers in Central New York frequently say they have job openings but, the local workforce lacks the necessary qualified candidates with college degrees, specific skill sets and certified job training. The job vacancy dilemma has educators and businesses looking to CTE – Career and Technical Education with many career pathways that students can explore. Does it work? John Smith speaks to Syracuse City School Administrators, students and businesses to find out. To hear the 24 minute podcast click here . To hear the segment with Brad and Apriah, jump ahead to the 12:05 minute mark of the podcast. To hear segment with Mike, just ahead to the 16:28 minute mark of the podcast.

Leslie English named Communications Division General Manager

United Radio welcomes Leslie English as the company’s new Communications Division General Manager. The Communications Division mission is to help people return home safely through the work of its installations, on-site field, and two-way radio repair and sales teams. As General Manager, English plans to incorporate her vast knowledge of business operations, leadership, and strategy to strengthen the division’s market share, customer service and employee satisfaction.  English previously owned and operated an award-winning local Dale Carnegie Franchise that covered 23 counties in Central New York. “We will be providing creative solutions to customers to help them with their communications needs, as well as utilizing our extensive skill sets to become invaluable assets in our fields of expertise,” said English.  “Most importantly we are designing a customer-centric approach to everything we do, beginning with a ‘customer destination’ experience within the division as well as a consultative approach with all of our interactions. We will be a resource both in-person and virtually, that offers support, education, and networking opportunities for new and existing clients. My team is very proud to live and work next to the customers we serve.”

United Radio launches new UR Dealer Sales website

United Radio Automotive customers now have a quick and easy way to learn about the products and services offered by the Sales & Upgrades Department. For the first time ever the new website www.URDealerServices.com and sales catalog provides all our offerings in one place complete with application guides and install manuals. “Our solutions are custom tailored for sales and installation at a new car dealership’” said Dan Marafino, Sales & Upgrades Department Manager at United Radio.  “We provide only the highest quality products sourced from a number of vendors combined with in-house designed harnessing and electronics to provide a seamless installation and excellent customer experience.” The website features an interactive Sales Catalog without pricing that a dealer can use to show products to their customers as well as install manuals and links to other United Radio websites such as www.URDealerServices.com and www.UnitedRadio.com. Dealers can request a priced version of the catalog via email. “We feel both our internal and external customers could benefit greatly from a better understanding of the products and services we offer here in the United Radio Sales & Upgrades Department. The new sales catalog and website should act as an easy resource to help do just that ” added Marafino.

Automotive Division receives recertifications

Congratulations to the Automotive Division! During the last three weeks of September, the Automotive Division was audited for recertification of their IATF 16949 and ISO 14001 Quality certifications.  This allows the division to maintain its certification for each of the standards required by its customers, mainly Ford. During this three-week time period Quality Manager Kelly Roesser escorted theauditors virtually, via Teams Meetings, throughout the technical and support areas. Individuals were selected for questioning and observed doing their daily tasks to show compliance.  Although the auditing was not conducted in person everyone did a great job adapting. “I would like to thank everyone for the hard work they put into preparing for these audits,” said Kelly. “It really showed”!  “I too want to thank everyone who helped make the audit process a success,” said Keith Martin, Automotive Division General Manager. “It’s this type of hard work and cooperation that makes our division a success.” Kevin Marais, Peachtree city Branch Manager offered this report. IATF The Peachtree team did a great job preparing for and passing the IATF16949 audit that is required by our customers Stellantis (Chrysler), Ford, GM, and the European car lines. We especially thank Lenore Kay and Kelley Roesser for the huge effort needed to make sure the paperwork ducks were all in a row, and for taking the auditor around on their laptops to audit the various areas of our operation. The team was fantastic at showing the auditor evidence of compliance and answering questions. Stellantis visit to Peachtree (October 13 and 14) Two quality managers from Stellantis (Chrysler), Ralph Rulli and Bingruo Guo, met at United Radio with Panasonic’s Director of Field Quality, Sham Anandakrishnan and his service management team, Harsha Gramani, Will Miller and Ann Boykin to review all the improvements made in the Chrysler remanufacturing line at our Peachtree facility. Harsha and Will put together a fantastic presentation that really showed the how well Panasonic and United Radio work together to support a product, and the data clearly showed significant improvement in backorder reduction and backorder age. This is no small task with the number of product revisions that roll out which result in model and serial number changes as well as the constant changing priority in which Stellantis or Panasonic would like us to fill these orders. Several efforts from both Panasonic and United Radio were highlighted. Sham mentioned that Ralph and Bingruo were impressed with the operation and efforts from both companies. I would like to thank everyone at United Radio who prepared for this visit while still maintaining the output volume required to keep the backorders trending down, and for the professionalism shown to our customers during their tour through the operation. Everyone who spoke with the Stellantis visitors represented United Radio very well. Also, thank you to Mike Fabery who visited Peachtree for this meeting. Mike had an opportunity to discuss possible battery remanufacturing with Ann Boykin.

A visit from Senator John Mannion

Thank you, Senator John Mannion for taking the time to tour our East Syracuse campus and learn more about how United Radio provides manufacturing and repair solutions for electronics providers worldwide. Our employees were also happy to see you and our staff as well.

Communications Division Sales now offer financing options!

United Radio has partnered with numerous financial resources to offer a customer-friendly financing program for its products and solutions. Our desire is to offer an easy-to-use lease or financing option which may include a simple one-page credit application, credit turnaround in less than four hours and personalized service for any questions you may have about our solutions to get the technology you need to better serve your customers. To learn more about how our solutions can benefit you, visit our Communications Division or contact one of our sales representatives today.

NYS Comptroller visits United Radio

Mr. Thomas P. DiNapoli, recently visited United Radio. He took a tour of our East Syracuse campus to see the valuable work our employees do on a daily basis. We were quite surprised at end of your visit to receive such good news! Thank you from everyone at United Radio.

Jim Fitzgibbons joins Communication Division as Sales Manager & Corey Martino Promoted to LMR Department Manager

The United Radio Communications Division announces the hiring of Jim Fitzgibbons as Sales Manager and the promotion of Corey Martino to LMR Department Manager. “We are so excited to have Jim come on as Sales manager for the division.” said Heather Reed, Communications Division General Manager. “His sales experience will be an asset to our division.” Jim comes to United Radio after 16 years at Verizon and three at VisionWorks. With that comes a great deal of managerial and sales experience. “I’m a person that likes to dig deep into the trenches to help out as much as I can to develop and cultivate my team,” said Jim. “I’m a huge advocate for training and making sure my team is set up for success and making sure my team reflects my vision and the company’s vision.” Jim’s goal is to make the Communications Division as profitable as possible by working with Heather and all the division leaders. “I like sales and diving right into it by going out and gaining new customers and helping current customers. A current customer may not know about the cameras we offer for example, so showing them all the different avenues that we have would be a benefit to us all.” What really drew Jim to United Radio? “I love the family aspect,” he said. “I love that everyone treats everyone like family, and you are not just a number. They respect you, not that other companies don’t, but they value you and any contribution you bring to the company.” Corey Martino was recently promoted to Department Manager for the LMR service. Corey is responsible for the supervision of technician David Bunch, and future technicians. He also performs repairs on devices that customers bring in and looks for any new avenue of product repair. “I’m looking forward to having Corey lead the LMR service,” said Reed. “His product knowledge and leadership skills will help us to maintain our position as a leader in two-way radio repair.” There are things that we can do to grow and expand into different markets,” he said. “Seeing what products our customers as are buying and how we can offer repair services for those products is one way. My goal is to grow and increase our revenue any way possible. Repair for siren control boxes for law enforcement and EMS vehicles can be one possible way.” One of the biggest challenges, according to Corey, is just keeping current. “Technology is always changing, and warranties are getting longer, so trying to perform repairs in general has really been the challenge,” he said. “The technology has gotten a lot smaller, a lot more complex and, in some situations, replacing the whole device can be cheaper than fixing it.” Corey is currently working with the sales department to see what they are selling and working with Brent in the garage to see what they are installing and then taking a look to see what we can fix, and what is feasible for us to fix. “Right now, we are not turning anything away,” he said. “If someone comes in with a product that our Consumer division doesn’t repair, we will take a look at it.” Corey has been with United Radio for eight years. “The family atmosphere. It has always been my draw. It’s so close knit that you are on a first name basis with everyone who works here. You don’t have to worry about going to talk to Phil and Mara because they come to you. Everyone is approachable.” “I’ve put a lot of time into this company and right now we are rebuilding my department,” he said. “Everyone knows United Radio as the company that fixes things and I want to make sure we keep it that way.”