OUR HISTORY
Employee Ownership & Empowerment
SUI adopts an Employee Stock Ownership Plan, transitioning ownership to all of its employees! This creates increased engagement, personal accountability, and yet another way for SUI to reward employees for continued commitment and hard work.
Smart Phone Repair Services
SUI rolls out training for DISH’s new Smart Phone Repair, allowing the team to offer reliable services at your location, repairing cracked screens and replacing batteries on Apple’s iPhone 5, 5c, 5s, 6, 6 Plus, and SE.
400,000 customers annually
With over 500 Satellite Technicians and increasing work order volume, SUI surpasses 400,000 customers served for the year.
Training Center Upgrade
The now unused warehouse and former hub of SUI’s supply chain at Headquarters is repurposed into a state-of-the-art training center. The current training center at the Bessemer branch office is moved to the new facility, capable of accommodating training for 18 new team members at a time, includes a classroom and three mock homes with multiple home configurations to mimic more real-world scenarios allowing for hands-on learning.
SUI Core Values
SUI reveals its core values, which were developed organically thanks to the actions and character of our very own team members. These values help articulate our
Lead Dog culture and the ideals that have guided our team since the beginning.
And the Oscar Goes To
The inaugural SUI Oscars are presented at Barber Vintage Motorsports Museum in Birmingham, Alabama. The event honors top performing team members across the company and consists of a dinner, awards ceremony, and reception.
Bringing Broadband to Rural America
DISH launches dishNET Broadband, allowing SUI to offer and install high-speed internet service via satellite in its underserved geography. SUI team member
Greg Maddox completes the first dishNET residential and commercial installations for DISH in Jackson, Mississippi.
Whole Home
Entertainment Experts
SUI begins offering the newly announced Smart Home Services (SHS) from DISH. Products and services available to DISH customers include television mounting, surround sound installation, screen cleaner, HDMI cables, surge-protectors, and more.
The Hopper is Born
DISH launches the Hopper whole home DVR, leading to an influx in customer upgrades and new connects and unprecedented growth for SUI.
Strengthening Technician Training
SUI significantly increases the investment in technician training and adopts a more comprehensive approach to learning, moving from a mostly informal and brief on-the-job training program to a highly structured curriculum. The addition of hands-on learning in mock houses and time with professional trainers in the field pairs with a state-of-the-art classroom and multiple learning stations to allow for practice in a simulated environment. This investment pays off with reduced SUI technician turnover for SUI.
Work Hard; Work Smart
As customer volume and technician base continue to grow, SUI’s centralized supply chain adapts. The company shifts to a decentralized distribution network with streamlined tracking, resulting in drastic reductions in cost and time for SUI.
Our Robust Software
SUI’s work order management solution is perfected and gives rise to
Pixsys Technologies – a cloud-based software provider servicing independent DISH retail and installation companies. Pixsys’ core offering leverages years of industry experience to offer a solution focused on inventory, reporting, payroll, recon, retail and other functions.
Here We Grow Again
SUI is awarded territory in Northeast Louisiana and Southern Mississippi, giving rise to our Monroe and Hattiesburg branch offices. The new expanded footprint brings our total office count to fifteen locations with over 400 Satellite Technicians providing services to customers in over 1,500 zip codes.
Leveraging Technology
SUI deploys a mobile work order management solution to all technicians. This technology impacts technician and back office efficiencies, eliminating paperwork and allowing technicians to view customer appointments, reconcile equipment, submit time sheets, and capture customer signatures on the same handheld device. Nearly a decade later, the features found in DISH’s current mobile solutions can be traced back to those we pioneered in 2008.
Upgraded HQ: 138 Citation
Having outgrown the corporate office on Lorna Lane, SUI upgrades to a new facility at 138 Citation Court. With over 35,000 square feet, Headquarters is home to a team large enough to support over 200 Satellite Technicians in the field, including Human Resources, Recruiting, Accounting, Payroll, IT, and Central Operations departments.
Delivering Quality Through Coax
The team recognizes a market need for cable that is properly packaged and neither low quality nor high cost. We realize the industry can benefit from a cable designed by the experts, the actual installers.
Digital Electronic Supply (DES), a cable manufacturer and distributor, is founded.
Life on Lorna Lane
SUI establishes a Headquarters office on Lorna Lane in Hoover, Alabama with over 7,500 square feet to accommodate the growing support staff. Over the course of the next five years, SUI doubles the square footage in the office.
The Great Expansion
Lee meets with DISH Network executives and is awarded territory in Alabama, Florida, and Mississippi for the new Regional Service Provider (RSP) Program. As an RSP, SUI fulfills all DISH Network installations, upgrades, and trouble calls in their new expanded footprint.
A Growing Reputation
The new partnership with DISH shows immediate promise as sales grow to over 300 customers per week. SUI quickly becomes a Top 10 Retailer for DISH.
An Extraordinary Partnership
Primestar is purchased by DirecTV. Roddy flies to Denver, Colorado to meet with Charlie Ergen, founder and then CEO of DISH Network. Satellites Unlimited, Inc. forges a partnership with DISH Network as an Authorized Retailer, selling and self-installing DISH video services across Central Alabama.
If You Want To Go Far, Go Together
With only 10 team members and growing sales, the family business is becoming more than Roddy and Janice can manage alone. As Danny prepares for college, the couple enlists the help of their older son, Lee, who joins the business as Sales and Operations Manager. Lee holds a degree in Marketing and brings years of management experience at Enterprise Rent a Car to SUI.
A Unique After School Program
Danny McKinney, age 16, begins working part-time for the family business after school and on the weekends. He completes ride-alongs with technicians, becomes involved in sales, and helps order equipment and manage inventory.
Branching Out
SUI launches an office in Andalusia, Alabama, making it the first company facility outside of the McKinney family home. The branch office starts with only two team members – one salesperson and one installer.
Humble Beginnings
Operations are handled from the basement of Roddy and Janice’s home in Birmingham, Alabama. Roddy spends the weekends making sales at area flea markets and events, Janice manages the books and payroll, and the couple’s gray Cadillac is the first official company vehicle.
And Then There Were Two
Facing the common hardships associated with starting a small business, the McKinneys’ two business partners opt to withdraw from the venture, leaving Roddy and Janice on their own to make the business succeed.
A New Business Venture
Roddy McKinney is approached by two businessmen to become involved in the satellite television business. Roddy agrees to make an investment under one condition: his wife Janice is to be involved in the venture and keep the books for the company. The four business partners become a distributor for Primestar, restricting business to specific zip codes in the state of Alabama.
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