Today (and Everyday) We Pause to Salute the Front-Line Heroes
At Zebra, we appreciate every person who is selflessly contributing on the front lines of this global fight against COVID-19. Our company is defined by the customers we serve and the people who depend on our products and solutions to perform their jobs.
For the last 50+ years, our employees and partners have dedicated themselves to delivering a performance edge to the front line of healthcare, retail, wholesale distribution, manufacturing, utilities and public sector institutions. It’s these very businesses that all of us continue to depend on to provide essential goods and services during this global pandemic. And it’s our duty to ensure that the essential front-line workers that these businesses employ continue to work safely and efficiently, even in times of extreme adversity.
But our appreciation extends far beyond our work lives. Individually, we all have friends, family and neighbors who have chosen to continue their duties out on routes or in stores, hospitals, restaurants, warehouses and public facilities to help keep our healthcare, supply chain and infrastructure systems running. Many of us know people who have volunteered to deliver meals and medicine, or work overtime, so that others at a higher risk can stay home and stay healthy.
Time and again, we witness the generosity, determination and heart of these front-line heroes who have been largely underappreciated for far too long. We have also seen the blood, sweat and tears in their steadfast efforts to save the lives (and protect the livelihoods) of complete strangers. Their spirit is extraordinary, and their sacrifice is humbling.
For example, my sister is an intensive care unit (ICU) nurse and was supposed to get married this week. Instead, she is now helping train and manage clinicians in eight different departments so that patients suffering from severe cases of COVID-19 can receive high-quality care. My brother-in-law is working extra hours in a grocery store in Michigan, helping to ensure people are fed and have access to the core staple they need to live life at home.
Simply saying “thank you” just doesn’t feel like enough to effectively express our extreme gratitude for the lengths that they and their families are going to for our benefit.
So, Zebra is taking action to show our appreciation.
How We’re Committing to You, Our Front-Line Heroes
Today, Zebra launched a new COVID-19 resource page on our website that details the ways we salute and empower you, our customers, partners, friends, family, neighbors and communities!
To start, we’re expanding our philanthropic efforts with the Red Cross which, as I’ve shared in a previous blog post, is an organization that is near and dear to me.
We’re also providing direct access to tips and guides from industry experts who can help you navigate the current challenges. Many from Zebra Nation are on the ground assisting with the activation of in-field hospitals and drive-up testing facilities. Others are working around the clock in our distribution and repair centers to prepare products needed by grocers, e-commerce departments, postal and courier operations, supply chain leaders and the public sector in order to efficiently deliver essential goods and services as entire cities, states and countries take shelter.
We will publish regular updates of the progress being made with these efforts, as well as first-hand learnings and recommendations from these experts, here on the Your Edge blog. We have already provided detailed guidance on how to thoroughly clean Zebra devices that may be shared by workers or customers so that you can help slow the spread of COVID-19. I encourage you to review those recommendations if you have not already.
In short, we are committed to helping our customers do their jobs better, faster and safer at the same time that we continue to celebrate the absolutely critical role they play in the world … now, more than ever.
Please take a few minutes to browse and bookmark the resource page, read the letter from our CEO Anders Gustafsson and watch our “hero salute” video.
Just know that, no matter how trying things may get, you have the entire Zebra Nation standing by you – and with you. Together, we will adapt. We will leverage our collective knowledge to conquer each new challenge. And we will tap into our collective resources to continue to move forward.
Until we connect again, stay strong, stay safe and be well!
Learn more about how Zebra is saluting and supporting front-line workers at www.zebra.com/heroes
Rob Armstrong
Robert (Rob) Armstrong became Chief Marketing Officer, Zebra Technologies in March 2023. Rob has over 20 years of experience in the B2B technology sector and joined Zebra in 2014.
Throughout his career, he has held various go-to-market leadership roles, most recently serving as Zebra’s Senior Vice President of Integrated Marketing & Channels. In this role, Rob oversaw go-to-market strategy and downstream marketing execution for the full Zebra portfolio, inclusive of customer segment, product, and digital marketing; channel and brand strategies; media relations; pricing; and analytics. During this time, he led a diverse, high-performing team of marketing and channel professionals to drive preference globally and evolve the perception of the Zebra brand in over 100 countries in collaboration with more than 10,000 partners in Zebra’s growing channel ecosystem.
Prior to joining Zebra, Rob held various global and regional roles across product development, business development, operations, and marketing at Motorola Solutions, including assignments in Asia Pacific and Europe. Rob has a Bachelor of Science degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of Notre Dame, and he currently serves as a board member for Bernie’s Book Bank and FIRST Illinois Robotics.
