United Radio recognized as Honda 2023 Service Parts Supplier award winner
United Radio was one of 21 suppliers to be honored by Honda for outstanding performance in service parts that serve the needs of customers after they have purchased Honda and Acura products. Honda works with nearly 1,400 service parts suppliers in North America to provide service and accessory parts for more than 20 million Honda and Acura automobiles in operation in the United States, as well as service parts for powersports and power equipment products. For United Radio to be honored with this award as a Honda Service Parts Supplier, the company was rated on performance in quality, cost, and delivery. Service Parts awards are based on overall scores reflecting combined performance in all three categories. During a recent visit to United Radio, Mark Nicolusi, Reman Support Account Manager at Honda’s Mitsubishi Electric Automotive America division, met with UR’s Mitsubishi department, led by Steve Oliver. He personally thanked members of the division for their excellent effort in achieving the award. He noted, “The team’s dedication and continuous improvements to the process was a large contributor to the success.” This included that fact that all shipments during 2023 were delivered on time to Honda as expected throughout the year. Honda manages a national network of parts and distribution facilities that support customers by delivering high-quality service parts to Honda and Acura dealers nationwide, as well as supporting global parts operations. The full award press release can be found here.
Motorola recognizes United Radio for 70 years of service
What started out as an agreement on July 15, 1954 has flourished into a 70 year partnership between Motorola and United Radio. Motorola recently marked to anniversary with a plaque that included this inscription: Congratulations on reaching this very significant milestone of 70 years as a dedicated Motorola Solutions Service Partner in the North American Service Partner Program. The partnership between our companies is instrumental in delivering unparalleled customer service in the industry. Our shared objective of world class customer experience and customer satisfaction drives each of us to continuously strive to deliver excellence in all we do for our valued customers worldwide. Congratulations to all the United Radio employees who have made this relationship flourish over the years!
United Radio celebrates Earth Day
United Radio is the leading provider of electronics repair and remanufacturing services. But our company is not just repairing electronics, we’re reducing waste, using recycled materials and pioneering sustainable solutions. “At United Radio we utilize a combination of expert repair services, in-depth failure analysis, and implement logistics solutions that help to extend the lifespan of electronics and reduce their environmental impact,” said Phil Rubenstein, United Radio President. When parts can’t be reused, they are recycled. Here are some of United Radio’s recent recycling highlights: With state-of-the-art logistics, United Radio is faster and more reliable than ever before. The company is growing, evolving, and leading the charge into a sustainable future.
Update on United Radio taking part in Viewpoint program (photos)
Here’s an update on the Viewpoint program that will feature United Radio. The segment is scheduled to air in the May/June time period according to the show’s producer. In the meantime, here are some photos from back in December when the video crew was on locations at our Syracuse campus. You can read more about United Radio’s participation on the Viewpoint program on this company news page.
United Radio employees surpass LDP Sock Drive goal (video)
United Radio employees nearly doubled their goal of 3,000 pairs of new socks in their sock drive, organized by the Leadership Development Program Cohort 2 group. Congratulations to Alison Mapes, Brenna Cawley, Derek Bowers, Joe Ucher, Kim Lane, Lakeitha Williams, Mohit Gupta, Rory Musselman and Tara Thornton for organizing this event and to all the United Radio employee who participated. This is another example of our United Radio core value: “We have a responsibility to each other to create a better community.” You can view all six core values here. Here is a video thank you from the group!
LDP Sock Drive Partner Spotlight and sock drive update: The Road Home
Our United Radio Cohort #2 of the Leadership Development Program decided that the best way we could make a positive impact on our community would be to help those struggling with housing and financial insecurity. The group embarked on a company-wide sock drive. Here is an article on our Salt Lake City partner: The Road Home. Our company exceeded our goal of 3,000 pairs of new socks with one week left to donate!
LDP Sock Drive Partner Spotlight and sock drive update
Our United Radio Cohort #2 of the Leadership Development Program decided that the best way we could make a positive impact on our community would be to help those struggling with housing and financial insecurity. The group embarked on a company-wide sock drive. Here is an article on our Peachtree City partner The Real Life Center. The company is also closing in our goal of 3,000 pairs of new socks!
Logistics, weather, charity and legacy: Meet the new leader of the Syracuse St. Patrick’s Parade
Editor’s note: The follow story is from syracuse.com. By Don Cazentre | dcazentre@nyup.com Vince Christian remembers going to the downtown Syracuse St. Patrick’s Parade as a spectator when he was growing up. In recent years, he became involved with the committee that organizes the annual event, including heading up its charitable arm, the St. Patrick Hunger Project, which raises money for the Food Bank of Central New York. This year, he’ll oversee the parade for the first time as president of the Syracuse St. Patrick’s Parade Committee. He replaced longtime president Janet Higgins, who retired last May. “It’s going to be a great day,” Christian said of the 2024 edition which steps off at noon Saturday. “The weather is looking beautiful. I hope we get a big crowd. The more the merrier.” This is the 42nd year the parade will travel down South Salina Street from Clinton Square to West Onondaga Street near the Marriott Syracuse Downtown hotel. (The parade was cancelled in 2020 and 2021 by the Covid pandemic). It typically attracts one of the largest crowds for any event downtown each year, unites all kinds of people under various shades of green, and helps kick off spring (even if it sometimes snows on parade day). That’s a legacy Christian said he’s proud and happy to take on. Here are his thoughts on running the parade this year: The logistics You might think organizing nearly 100 floats, bands, police and fire agencies, civic groups and other marchers through the city streets would be daunting task. Christian admits it’s a big job, but one that he’s prepared for. That’s partly because Christian, 51, is the director of logistics in the automotive division at United Radio, the East Syracuse-based electronics company. He’s also been working with the parade for many years. He’ll start by following the motto often repeated by Higgins: “As long as everyone is marching in the same direction, I’m happy.” “We’ll go with that because it works,” Christian said. “At least nobody’s been run over yet.” This year, the number of marching units in the parade is slightly more than last year while still a bit less than before Covid. That’s something he’s planning to work on for next year. “We are coming up with some new initiatives for next year’s parade,” he said. “The goal is to increase the number of floats and participation in the parade itself.” The team In the meantime, this year’s parade is running as usual, in part because the organizing team has a lot of experience. “There’s a lot of people in the same jobs,” Christian said. That includes longtime volunteer “Miss Judy,” who, equipped with her whistle, helps make sure the parade keeps moving. “We’d be lost without Miss Judy,” he said. ”We do have a great team.” The weather For Christian, the perfect weather for the parade would be “50 degrees and sunny with no wind.” After all, many people use the parade as an excuse to break out their Aran wool sweaters and tweed jackets. “A few years ago, when it was 70, I may have been the only one who thought it was too warm,” he said. So far, the forecast for Saturday seems to be close to Christian’s ideal: A high of 50, with overcast skies but no rain or snow. As much as he like to, he recognizes the parade president has no real control over the weather. But he’s not taking chances. He plans to attend the parade day Mass and say a few prayers. There’s also a bit of a family tradition. “My grandmother used to set her rosary outside to help ensure good weather,” he said. “She always said ‘God won’t rain on my rosary.’ So I’ll probably ask my mother to set grandma’s rosary outside on Saturday.” The Hunger Project While serving as parade committee vice president in recent years, Christian also chaired the Hunger Project, which collects non-perishable food and raises thousands of dollars in cash each February and March for local food banks (It also calls attention to the great famine in Ireland of the 1840s, called in Irish An Gorta Mor). Donations are taken online and at various collection points around Central New York. This year, Christian said, there are a record number of volunteers helping out on parade day collecting cash (they also take Venmo). “It’s a really important, very special part of what the parade is about,” he said. The legacy Syracuse’s St. Patrick’s Parade was founded in the 1980s by a group led by former WSYR-TV (Channel 9) reporter Nancy Duffy. It has grown over the years to become one of the biggest events of the Syracuse annual calendar. “I think the parade does unite our city, our community, north and south and everywhere,” Christian said. “It’s not just for the Irish. It’s for people of all nationalities and all cultures. The parade is the uniting event for us all. As they say, everybody is Irish for a day.”
LDP Cohort #2 sponsors company-wide sock drive
What do you do when you need more socks? Why am I even asking, and why do I keep talking about socks? I promise there’s a point. Hold your answer to that first question, while I try to explain myself. One of our core values at United Radio states that: “We have a responsibility to each other to create a better community.” When you learn about this core value during your LDP journey, your cohort will have the opportunity to embark on a campaign to help improve your community. In Cohort #2 of the Leadership Development Program, we decided that the best way we could make a positive impact on our community would be to help those struggling with housing and financial insecurity. A recent survey* tells us that 65% of Americans report that they are living paycheck-to-paycheck. When living paycheck-to-paycheck, a single unpredicted life event can, potentially, upend your life completely. Unpredictability is, ironically, one of the only things in our lives that is entirely predictable. The number of people experiencing homeless in the United States (653,104) is the highest it has been since reporting began in 2007.** 6 out of every 10 of the individuals in this number are staying in sheltered locations, while 40% (roughly 261,242 individuals!) are completely unsheltered. According to the local Syracuse news source cnycentral.com, about 1400 children were considered homeless for the start of the 2023-24 school year. In Utah, according to the National Alliance to End Homelessness, homelessness has been increasing year-over-year since COVID, and the same goes for the state of Georgia. As it turns out, socks are the least donated item to most homeless shelters, and, consequently, the most highly requested by charitable organizations that center onhousing insecurity. Imagine how quickly your socks would wear out if you only had one or two pairs—if that—to work with and didn’t have the means to acquire more. This can cause enough problems when you spend most of your days walking—it’s even worse during cold winters. And that’s how our sock drive was born! We would like to ask for your help in providing socks to the members of our communities who need them most. In Peachtree City, our partner will be the Real Life Center, an organization sponsored by the Dogwood Church, who uses a four-point strategy to accomplish their mission of assisting people in need (Focus, Address, Develop, and Achieve). Last year, they distributed 695,225 pounds of food to families in need. (Wild!!) For our Peachtree folks, come to Lunch & Learn on Wednesday March 6, 2024, to learn more about this organization and the sock drive. In Salt Lake, we are partnering with The Road Home, a wonderful organization with over one hundred years of experience helping the homeless! Last year, they assisted 3,491 people with employment and housing services. Rory Musselman will be speaking about this in his Lunch & Learn presentation about the state of SLC. In Syracuse, we are partnering with an organization called We Rise Above The Streets, headed by Al-Amin Muhammad, an upstanding man who survived a period of homelessness himself. Al-Amin will be speaking at the following Lunch & Learn events in Syracuse to tell his story, raise awareness for his organization and give more information on our sock drive: Check Jake’s Place for more information about our partner organizations in the coming days! Our sock drive will be held during the month of March 2024 from 3/1-3/31. Bins will be placed in all UR buildings where you can bring any socks you would like to donate. NOTE: Used socks will NOT be accepted as donations. Please donate only new and unworn socks. In addition to direct donations of socks, we will be doing raffles. Everyone’s favorite, and for good reason! Prizes will vary by location, but may include high end headphones, gift cards, as well as handmade wooden flags by our very own talented woodworker, Joe Ucher! Prices for raffle tickets will be: Any employee who donates pairs of socks will have the opportunity to get bonus tickets in the fundraising raffles! If you have any questions about how the sock drive or raffles will work, there are contacts in each building you can reach out to your division building representative. Alternatively, if you’d like to donate money directly to our partner organizations, scan the QR codes below to send to their PayPal accounts, or see their Venmo accounts. If you do, please add “LDP” in the notes section. We appreciate any amount you can give to help us make our community a warmer and safer place! And the most vulnerable members of the communities around our various UR locations will surely be even more grateful. Pick up a few socks and experience the dopamine rush of helping someone in need! (Seriously…it’s a really good feeling – science says so.) The artice was written by United Radio employee Derek Bowers
United Radio recognizes National Leadership day
Editor’s note: The following is from the National Day Calendar: “National Leadership Day is set aside to acknowledge the power of leadership. Every year, on February 20th, we recognize the impact that leaders make in people’s lives as they seek to develop themselves and others. When you think about it, in every relationship, one person influences another, whether a parent or child, spouse or friend, student or teacher, employer or employee. In our everyday interactions with one another, someone is leading or influencing the other to do something or become something. This means that anyone can be a leader, whether you have a title or not. When we talk about leadership, we know that leadership is about growth – for yourself, your relationships, your productivity, and your people. To lead well, you must embrace your need for continual improvement so that you can be the best leader you can be. The observance aims to empower people to help others and be change agents and difference makers in someone’s life. This is the opportunity we have on National Leadership Day: To show people what it means to be a good leader and inspire them to be a positive force of change in another person’s life.” What does leadership look like at United Radio? How can you grow your leadership skills? Anyone can take steps to grow as a leader. An important part of leadership is recognizing that everyone is on a different part of their leadership journey. We can honor this by supporting each other and helping others grow!
