Sales Assistant/Coordinator Job Opportunity

I am actively looking for a Sales Assistant/Coordinator to support me and one of my Unified Technologies’ colleagues with our day-to-day sales, marketing, and account management activities.

Main responsibilities include but are not limited to…

• Assist in development, coordination, and administration of marketing strategies
• Assist in research and follow-up of new and existing sales opportunities
• Manage and coordinate calendar events
• Manage and administer CRM software for Customer, Prospect, and Opportunity management
• Engage, manage, and coordinate support resources for various projects
• Assist in design, pricing, and  presentation of project solutions
• Manage and coordinate initial and follow correspondence and contact with Customers and Prospects

Required skills for this position include…

• Organized and detail oriented with the ability to handle multiple tasks in a fast-paced, technical environment
• Self-motivated
• Approachable, outgoing personality
• Effective listening skills with the willingness and ability to be proactive in their day-to-day activities
• Experience and proficiency in Excel, Word, PowerPoint, and Outlook
• Understanding of CRM software (TigerPaw preferred)

If you know of anyone that might have an interest in this position, please have them forward a resume to me at bborgman@unified-team.com.  Additionally, for any questions or any concerns on any of the above, please feel free to contact me via phone at 502.708.3335 or via email at bborgman@unified-team.com.  Thank you!

It All Started With A Produce Stand…

This time last year we were in the throes of our adoption home study and dossier completion.  As we looked forward to summer we also dreamed about having another child in our family within the next year.  We had been discussing for a few weeks how we would like to take the boys with us to Ethiopia. However, after reviewing the price of tickets, we decided they would need to raise the money to help out with their plane tickets if they wanted to join us.  We quickly learned that round-trip tickets can cost between $1,500 and $2,000.  So, Brian naturally thought they should raise a combined $3, 500…a nice, happy medium.  I, on the other hand, thought that was way too much money for an 11 and an 8 year old to raise!  I tried to talk Brian down to $500 but he wouldn’t budge.  I am so glad that he didn’t because I would have missed out on the miracle that God wanted to work in our lives!

We put up a fundraising thermometer on our refrigerator with a goal of $3,500.  Wow!  That looked impossible!  The boys looked at it and commented, “How are we ever going to make it there?”  I simply pointed to the verse that we had put at the bottom of the chart…

“Now to him is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”   – Ephesians 3:20-21

They couldn’t argue with that.

At the same time we were finishing up our dossier paperwork, we were putting out our first garden.  One day when the boys and I were up to our elbows in dirt, they came up with the idea to have a produce stand to raise money for their trip.  They worked hard planting, weeding, and harvesting…and by the end of the summer we had some fruits of our labor.  We put on a card table in our driveway with a sign that stated all proceeds from our sales would go towards our Ethiopian adoption.  Bless those people who stopped by on our little, old country road.  I think we made a total somewhere around $20 and that was just for a few tomatoes!  The boys then took their produce stand complete with zucchini bread and chocolate chip cookies to my sister’s yard sale.  They had some help by their cousins’ lemonade and cake pops and their nana’s flowers and produce to make the stand the highlight of the yard sale.  Before they knew it they had around $300 on their chart!

We heard in November that we had a referral for our 3 month old baby boy, Titus!  Wow, now it seemed really real!  The boys kept looking at their chart.  How were they ever going to get there?   Then came Christmas… they received numerous gifts from family to put towards their trip and the number on their chart continued to grow.  The biggest surprise for all of us came when Brian’s company, Unified Technologies, gave the boys $1,000 towards their trip at the company’s annual Christmas party!  I couldn’t wait to tell the boys the news!  Now they were 1/2 way to their goal!  God was doing immeasurably more than we could ever ask.

January was an exciting month.  We were only given a 5 day notice to travel to Ethiopia to see Titus and attend court to make him legally our son.  What a wonderful experience…I’m not going to go there right now or I may start down a whole different path!  When we got back home, I immediately went online to try to find something the boys could do to raise money for their tickets.  It had to be something that was easy, fun, and not too expensive to make.  I found directions for making coasters from tiles and it was exactly what we were looking for.  So, to the basement we went to test our new product.  Not bad, time consuming, but not hard to make at all.  We posted it on our blog and Facebook and were blown away when we got 5 orders the next day!  A “small production plant” started in our basement and grew beyond our wildest dreams.  Believe it or not, we have raised around $1,000 from the sales of our coasters!   The boys were almost to their goal!  God was doing more than we could have ever imagined!

Additionally, soon after we got back from Ethiopia, a friend of mine from Milligan College, Cindy Newland, contacted me to say that she was a representative for Thirty-One and she would like to throw us a party to help raise funds for the boys’ trip.  She said that she has a heart for adoption and would like to help us out.  I love Thirty-One products and was very excited about this opportunity.  I was again blown away by family and friends who ordered to support our adoption.  With the Thirty-One fundraiser, we raised $300 for the boys’ tickets.  The goal was getting closer to being realized.

As word continued to spread that the boys were raising money, we began to get checks in the mail from friends and family who wanted to show their support of our adoption and help the boys reach their goal. The boys were getting more and more excited as their total got closer and closer to the top!  No longer did they question if they were going to get there.  They knew God was working it out!

We are happy to announce that the top was blown off a few weeks ago when our good friends, Jeff and Kerrin Omer, offered their timeshare condo in Myrtle Beach for us to auction off in order to  raise money for the boys’ trip.  After a slow start, we had a bidding war on the last day.  The winning bid was $700 and was won by Brigitee Stapleton, a friend of a friend from Milligan College, who heard about the condo fundraiser on Facebook.

The boys celebrated by making fireworks go off on their chart as the top was blown completely off!  (I think they are excited to be out of the coaster making business, too!)

As I write all of this down for the first time, I am reminded of how many people have been a part of this journey that God put us on more than a year ago to give a child in Ethiopia a home. He has taught each one in our family the power He has to do immeasurably more than we could ever ask or imagine.  And he has used many of you to do it!

THANK YOU!  This is the deepest, most sincere thank you we could ever give!  The boys are looking so forward to seeing the country where there brother was born.  THANK YOU for helping to make it possible!  We hope to be able to repay the favor when it is your turn to take whatever journey God has planned for you!

Ethiopia, Here We Come!!!

I thought I’d put a quick post up before heading to bed tonight.  For those of you not aware, Cassie received a call on Tuesday, Jan. 17th from our  Adoption Coordinator from Lifeline Children’s Services informing us that our Ethiopian court date is scheduled for Thursday, Jan. 26th.  She went on to say that we needed to be in Ethiopia by Tuesday, Jan. 24th…only 7 days out from the time we received the news!  We immediately called our travel agency and it was determined that we will need to leave on Sunday, Jan. 22nd…merely 5 days out from the time we received the information!

Needless to say, the last few days have been exciting but hectic…but it will be well worth the stress when we get to see our son, Titus (more on his name at a later post), for the first time next week!!  We’ve had quite a bit to get prepared in the last few days and are operating on little sleep…which I’m hoping will make it easier to sleep on the long plane ride.

Obviously, today was my last day at the office before we head to Ethiopia.  As with every Friday at Unified Technologies, we had our Friday Operations meeting first thing in the morning.  Several years ago, we began starting our meetings with everyone thanking at least one other employee for something they did during the week.  This week we had another first…our CEO asked one of my colleagues to pray for Cassie and me in our upcoming trip.  What a humbling experience to have my co-workers pray with and for us.  It continues to amaze me the interest and impact this process has not only had on our family but others around us.  I certainly love my work family, but I love even more to see God working in other’s lives and using this experience to draw them closer to Him!

Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers next week.  Specifically, please pray for safe travels, an uneventful court date, and plenty of time to spend with Titus.

Stay tuned…I hope to update a few times while in Ethiopia (if possible).

Unified Technologies’ Blog Post About Our Adoption…

One of our founding Unified team members, Brian Borgman, and his family received news just before Christmas that a beautiful 3-month old baby boy from Ethiopia was referred to them for adoption. And all of us at Unified could not be happier for this new addition to their growing family!  Click here to read more…

IT’S A BOY!!!

Please forgive us for the length of this post as it has been quite some time since we last updated you on our adoption journey. I hope you have a few minutes for us to bring you up to speed; as we have a lot of exciting news to share!

First and foremost, we’re excited to announce that we received a referral for a 3-month old baby boy on Monday, November 30th!!! I’ll give you all the details further down in this blog but first let me bring you up to date on what has occurred up to this point. It is amazing to see God in control and at work throughout this process!

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future..” – Jeremiah 29:11

In all honesty, up until the last few weeks, very little had happened in regards to our adoption process. The only two things that come to mind between our last post and a few weeks ago was 1) a decision by Cassie and I to allow our boys to join us on our 2nd visit to Ethiopia and 2) being asked several times by our adoption agency, Lifeline Children’s Services, if we would consider anything less than 2 children.

For those of you who are unaware, Ethiopia requires two visits to the country prior to bringing home your child/children. The first trip is to take care of all the legalities on the Ethiopian side in regards to the child/children you are adopting. While the 2nd trip is the actual trip to pick up your child/children.

After much discussion and prayer (and urging by Trenton and Garrett); we have decided to allow them to join us on our 2nd trip to Ethiopia to pick up their new brother…assuming they help raise their portion of travel expenses to join us. Their enthusiasm and commitment to this adoption has been unwavering and luckily we’ve seen the same commitment from them in their fundraising efforts. The opportunity for us to travel together as a family to Ethiopia to meet the newest addition to our family is an opportunity of a lifetime for both them and us.

It has been wonderful to see the boys setting aside their desire to purchase “things” in order to save money for their trip. Both Cassie and I feel that the things they will learn through this process will be beneficial for them for years to come. It has been enjoyable to see their creative juices flowing on ways to raise the needed funds.

This past summer, with a lot of help from the boys, we put out our 1st garden. The boys set up a roadside stand to sell the produce along with signs on what the money will go towards. We had a yard sale earlier this year (where the boys baked cookies to sell and their cousins and Nana made cake pops and flower arrangements to sell for the boys), Cassie’s sister has offered to host a bake sale sometime after the 1st of the year, both boys have decided to make and sell walking sticks, as well as many other ideas have been tossed around. Stay tuned as I’m sure we’ll be sharing more details on these ideas in the weeks and months to come.

Another occurrence over the last few months has been some questioning from our Lifeline represenative on whether or not we would consider less than two children. To give you a quick background, when Cassie and I first started this process we set up our parameters on what we wanted for our family…two boys anywhere from birth to 5/6 years old. After all, we’ve already raised boys, we know what to expect, etc. However, after continual prayer and discussion, we changed that a bit and said we would be open to two kids as long as they were the same gender. However, by the time we had completed our initial paperwork, we had even given this up to God and settled on whatever two kids He felt was best for our family; no matter the gender…boy/boy, girl/girl, or boy/girl.

Fast forward to just a few weeks ago and we sensed yet another urging from God. Lifeline had a picnic (on Saturday, November 20th) for anyone that had worked with them in the past or was currently in the adoption process with them. Shortly after we arrived, we stopped to talk with our Lifeline represenative [that we have been working with]. The question was asked again if we were still only considering two children. Again, our answer was, “yes”. However, after many conversations throughout the day with other families, Cassie and I both felt we needed to discuss and pray about this more. Additionally, some close friends of ours that recently adopted three children from Ethiopia, asked if they could stop by our house and pray and share some things they went through during their process.

After our time with them, more conversations between Cassie and I, and more prayer on the subject; Cassie and I both felt that this was an area that we were trying to control and that we felt we knew what was best for our family. If we truly believed that this adoption was a path that God put us on, and He knew what was best for our family; then why weren’t we also letting Him have complete control of our adoption? Cassie and I agreed that if we were truly letting God take this over; not only should we be open to less than two children…but we also had to be open to more than two children. So, the next morning (Monday, November 21st), Cassie called our agency and informed them that not only were we open to only 1 child, but we were open to as many sibling groups that needed a home…be it 1, 2, 3, 4, etc.

“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.” – Isaiah 55:8

Nine days after our decision to release our control in this area to God, Lifeline notified us with our referral. Cassie received a call from Lifeline on the morning of Wednesday, November 30th, informing us that we had a referral for a 3 month old boy named, Yosef. Shortly after that call, Cassie received an email from our agency with a picture and some details on our new son. While we cannot share a picture at this time, let me just say he is the cutest thing we have ever seen!! He has loose curly hair, big brown eyes, the cutest little nose, lightly colored skin, and what looks to be a little dimple on his right cheek. Per the paperwork, he’s as healthy as he can be; and based on his picture, he’s quite an alert little boy. We plan to use his name, Yosef, as either his first name or at a minimum as a middle name. Ironically enough, his name means, “God will add.” Isn’t that just like God’s sense of humor?!

I cannot tell you how much of a blessing this experience has been for our family so far…especially the past 2 weeks! It is both amazing and humbling to see the generosity and interest that people have taken in our story.

Just to share a quick story in that regards…the people I work with at Unified Technologies are awesome! Last night was our company Christmas party. Following our “dirty Santa” gift exchange we do every year, our CEO, Scott Diamond, talked about the amount of money our employees raised for some local families through the More Than A Gift program at Southeast Christian Church. As is our usual custom, the company matches what the employees give. However, this year, the employees gave enough of their own money that there was really no reason for the company to match. So, unbeknownst to Cassie and me, the company decided to take it’s portion of the money and give it to us to help with our adoption…specifically, to help the boys with their fundraising to join us on our trip to Ethiopia!!

What an emotional an unbelievable evening it was; not only for Cassie and me, but I think for a lot of people that I work with as well. It continues to amaze me how much this journey of ours has impacted not only me and my family but other people that we know and come into contact with. Again, it is both humbling and amazing how God chooses to use and reach His people! I simply hope and pray that through this journey those that we come in contact with see the love of Christ and how He has chosen to adopt anyone that wants to be part of His family!

The other thing I hope people see is the fact that this is such a faith ride for my family and me. We cannot do this on our own. Between having the money to pull this off, the emotional roller coaster this has been and is yet to be, and making it through all the things that can go wrong through the adoption process; it is unbelievable to see God’s hand at work! A verse that we have on the boys’ fundraising chart and that has become our family’s mantra; nails this point…

“Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” – Ephesians 3:20-21

So, what’s next? We are hopeful within the next 3 months we will be making our first trip to Ethiopia. Prior to that time, Yosef will be transported from his orphanage some 7 hours away to a transition home in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. During our first visit to Ethiopia, we will get to see Yosef for the first time, spend time with him and the other children in the orphanage, and finally go to court to legally adopt him. Unfortunately, at the end of that week, we will return to the states but will have to leave Yosef in Ethiopia. During our time back home, final processing of our adoption will take place before we will be allowed to return for our 2nd trip. Again, we are hopeful within about 3 months after our return home we will be allowed to return back to Ethiopia (along with Trenton and Garrett) to bring our new son back home with us.

Thanks to each of you for your thoughts and prayers over the last 10 months of our journey. I would ask that you continue to keep us on your list and specifically pray for the following for us in the coming months:

1. Yosef’s health and safety
2. Health and safety for the caregivers in Ethiopia currently taking care of Yosef
3. Quick processing of paperwork in Ethiopia so we can make our 1st trip
4. Patience for our family as we wait for our 1st trip
5. Low stress for our family as we prepare our home for a new baby
6. That we clearly see the many things God is teaching us through this process and we don’t get in the way of what He is trying to teach/show others

Unified Technologies wins Commonwealth Credit Union’s VoIP Contract

http://unified-team.com/blog/?p=183: Commonwealth Credit Union, Kentucky’s largest credit union headquartered in Frankfort, KY and serving over 84,000 members, recently awarded Unified Technologies a contract for a new VoIP telecommunications solution. Unified Technologies will connect all five of Commonwealth Credit Union‘s offices using the ShoreTel IP Communications Platform.

Unified Technologies’ December VoIP Seminar (featuring the ShoreTel IP Platform)

 

Seating is limited.  If you plan to attend, please RSVP as a comment to this post or call 502.708.3335.  Please reference Borg Man’s World blog.

Louisville December VoIP Seminar

Unified Technologies’ Awards from the ShoreTel 2010 Partner Conference

Not only was Unified Technologies the only partner that was invited on stage for a full interview and highlight session in front of the rest of the partners that attended the ShoreTel 2010 Partner Conference in San Diego, CA last week (see pic); but we were also awarded with the following accolades throughout the week…

• #1 New Partner Worldwide in the ShoreTel 2010 Circle of Excellence
• “Fastest growing ShoreTel partner in the history of our company” – John Combs, CEO
• #12 Overall Worldwide in the ShoreTel 2010 Circle of Excellence
• 1 of only 2.5% of all ShoreTel Partners worldwide with more that $1MM in sales and a Customer Satisfaction score over 95%
• Elite Customer Satisfaction Award (for achieving 98% customer satisfaction on the year)

Unified Technologies is growing…come grow with us!

Unified Technologies is growing and we’re looking for VoIP/PBX Technicians, Low Voltage/Network Installers, and Sales Professionals.

Unified Technologies delivers exceptional service through its dedicated, skilled group of employees with over 400 years experience, and we’re looking to expand our team with qualified customer-focused individuals.

For more info, click here:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8k52UQzQNw