Harris Corporation Announces Channel Partner Initiative For Radio Broadcast Market
Initiative extends reach throughout U.S. and Canada; expands value-added services
CINCINNATI, June 28, 2007 — Harris Corporation (NYSE:HRS), an international communications and information technology company, has created a North American Channel Partners team for the company‘s radio broadcast market. The team includes 10 U.S. and three Canadian companies, including dealers, distributors and systems integrators that will help Harris extend its reach into small- and mid-sized markets. The Channel Partners also enable Harris to offer new value-added services, including planning and design assistance, disaster recovery, regionalized field resources, quicker response times and specialized integration teams.
The team will work with the existing Harris Radio sales staff, including local district sales managers, and will report to Mark Goins, radio systems and consoles sales manager, and Chris Pannell, manager of North American radio sales.
“The Channel Partners initiative exponentially extends the Harris footprint throughout the U.S. and Canada, allowing us to add experienced representatives that can provide not only sales support, but also offer installation, commissioning and maintenance services as part of the Harris turnkey portfolio,” said Pannell. “This initiative will bring sales and integration services closer to the customer, and provide very specific skill sets from a variety of well-respected industry Channel Partners - allowing customers to get the best possible service from Harris.”
Channel Partner Technical Services Group has a 25-year relationship with Harris that includes hundreds of integration projects using Harris products. Arthur “Bo” Hoover, president of Technical Services Group, believes that the Channel Partners initiative will prove successful because of the various skill sets that Harris and the expanded team can provide.
“This initiative puts the supply side in the hands of experienced engineers working on value solutions versus a pure sales motive,” said Hoover.
Harris will make the majority of its manufactured radio broadcast products and systems available to Channel Partners, including HD Radio™, FM and AM transmitters; VistaMax studio networking systems, various on-air and production consoles, and studio furniture; and Intraplex® STL platforms. There is potential for two or more Channel Partners to work together on a single project and that there is no strict territorial divide.
Larry Lamoray, president of Balsys Technology Group, is an example of a Channel Partner brought on due to the value-added services they can provide, including studio integration and “Plug and Play Transmitter Buildings” that represent completely preconfigured and tested transmission facilities to simplify site builds and upgrades.
“This is a valuable relationship because it brings more opportunities to both Harris and all the Channel Partners involved,” said Lamoray. “Balsys specifically benefits because it brings more integration work to us along with product sales.”
The complete list of U.S. Channel Partners, many of which have attended Harris training programs, includes: Balsys Technology Group of Winter Garden, Florida; Broadcast Connection (offices in Bellevue, Colorado; Elwood, Illinois; and Richmond, Indiana); Broadcast Technical Associates of Wichita, Kansas; Calhoun Communications of Sioux City, Iowa; Digital Radio Engineering of Slate Hill, New York; Giesler Broadcasting Supply of Houston; TechNet Associates of New Hampshire; Technical Services Group of Baton Rouge, Louisiana; and WPS of Wheaton, Maryland.
Canadian Channel Partners include BCB Electronics Sales Ltd., RVA Canada Limited, and BSE (Broadcast Systems & Equipment).
About Harris Corporation
Harris is an international communications and information technology company serving government and commercial markets in more than 150 countries. Headquartered in Melbourne, Florida, the company has annual revenue of over $4 billion and more than 15,000 employees — including more than 6,000 engineers and scientists. Harris is dedicated to developing best-in-class assured communications™ products, systems, and services for global markets, including government communications, RF communications, broadcast communications, and wireless transmission network solutions. Additional information about Harris Corporation is available at www.harris.com
