Byrne Helps Make Employees’ Dreams Of U.S. Citizenship A Reality
As an industry-leading manufacturer of innovative power products, Byrne is all about making powerful connections. And those connections begin with our own employees.
People are at the center of everything we do, and we couldn’t be more proud of our family of employees at Byrne. We work to promote an atmosphere of respect and trust – one that encourages healthy dialogue and honors diversity, fueling creativity and innovation. Part of making Byrne a great place to work also means giving our employees the tools they need to help achieve their own goals – professionally and personally.
Because Byrne honors diversity, we intentionally seek out men and women from different backgrounds, perspectives and ideas into our workforce. Each of these individuals has their own story, but for many, their dream is the same: to become a U.S. citizen. And over the years, several have done just that. So, in 2018, we began celebrating this important milestone more formally, with the recognition we felt it deserved.
“As long as I can remember,” adds Dan Byrne, Byrne’s CEO, “our company has celebrated the struggle and unique journey of our employees. Each story is personal – and it’s in our DNA to recognize the struggle and success each step along the way.”
For these exceptional individuals, Byrne offers reimbursement on citizenship test application fees, a paid day off to attend the citizenship ceremony, and even an in-house celebration that includes the gift of their own U.S. flag. To support many of our foreign-born employees, Byrne also offers English as a Second Language classes (ESL) free of charge and access to legal services through The Source –financial and legal services offered to all employees.
“Knowing that our own Byrne family originally immigrated to the U.S., and the struggles they went through, we really wanted to honor these team members who have taken the initiative to become citizens, says Sandy Buchanich, Byrne’s VP of Human Resources. “We know it’s a lengthy commitment and this is just our way of congratulating them on such an important accomplishment.”
In 2020, we’ve already seen six Byrne employees celebrate their newly minted citizenship. People like Dal Pau, a member of our Byrne Special Forces team, is originally from Myanmar, coming to the United States after fleeing his country and living as a refugee in Malaysia. After his arrival, he soon found a place with us, and in the years that followed, he worked hard to learn English and U.S. history with the hopes of becoming an American. It took him six years, but he made it, and the whole Byrne crew recently welcomed him as a United States citizen – the same month we celebrated the 4th of July!
Alina Albin, a Digital Marketing Specialist and U.S. resident since 2014, who first visited from Romania on a travel program to Beaver Island where she fell in love with our beautiful Michigan summers – and her husband, John. Alina received her U.S. Citizenship on July 28th, 2020. We are so proud to have her on our team — and now also a part of our United States Citizenry — after 6 long years of waiting!
Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, “America is another name for opportunity.” At Byrne, we couldn’t agree more. And we couldn’t be happier to do everything we can to help all Byrne family of employees enjoy all the opportunities this incredible country has to offer…as fellow U.S. citizens.
