We Are Marceco

We believe in the power of feet on the street.
We work where we serve.

Marceco started small—spending Sundays at the kitchen table counting the week’s total sales. We’ve made big changes since our early days and we haven’t stopped moving forward.

Since forming in 1995, we’ve added over 100 members to the Marceco family and expanded to 2500 locations nationwide—all while keeping our company focused on the values that brought us our success. We work hard to maintain our core values and strive to provide our retailers with the most sophisticated and robust tools available in the wireless world.

Rich data capabilities allow us to share the metrics that help our partners excel. We’re armed with marketing strategies and tactics designed to help your business stand out in a crowded field. Marceco is committed to cutting edge technology that gives retailers the highest and best possible opportunity for success.

Leadership Team

Click each image below to learn more about our leaders.

David
DenHerder

Integrator

With a diverse educational and vocational background, David founded Marceco Ltd at the age of 40 on the kitchen table with minimal resources. His ability to see a future, to think strategically, and leverage strong relationships is evidenced by the success of Marceco today. Serving over 2500 Boost and Gen Mobile combined doors in 44 states, Marceco is the second largest direct distribution partner with Dish Network. David’s entrepreneurial instincts and risk tolerance have served as critical factors in the long and successful relationship with Jamal and Universal Wireless. David is responsible for all the day to day operations of the enterprise.

Jamal
Aqel

Visionary

Jamal’s history as an entrepreneurial owner of many businesses over the course of a 30 year career provide vision, insight, risk tolerance, and knowledge that can only be honed by years of experience. With a humble start as a new immigrant to this country, he founded and was able to successfully build Universal Wireless, a wireless retail dealer with over 100 locations operating in 13 states. He actively supports all business units of the company, working in close conjunction on a daily basis with the CEO. His ability to see and pursue opportunity is embedded in the existence of all our business success.

Debby
Radmacher

Director of Executive Support

As one of Marceco’s first employees, Debby’s decades of experience reflect a depth of understanding in roles that are as diverse as the company itself. From finance, to aviation, to development within new and existing companies, her work in multiple areas over the years has given her a breadth of knowledge that guides and supports the business and its teams. Debby is a catalyst for the senior executives that promote outstanding care of staff, continual growth in entrepreneurial endeavors, and supports Marceco’s endless pursuit of excellence.

Andrew Baibak

Director of Finance

Through a fifteen-plus year career in accounting and finance, Andrew has accumulated a breadth and depth of knowledge and experience to help maintain Marceco’s already strong bedrock foundation, while enabling Marceco to remain nimble and poised for growth. Andrew’s experience spans several industries including automotive, investment management, manufacturing, hospitality, and banking. The coalescence of these experiences results in a toolkit of stewardship, efficiency, risk assessment, and appetite for opportunity that will keep Marceco poised for growth and prepared for an ever-changing business environment.

Kim
Laue

President

Kim has spent over 20 years in the Wireless industry learning and developing the skills required to manage the evolution of this business. She has a deep understanding of how to build a channel of retailers, sales account managers, logistics, and operationalize Marceco to meet the needs of its distribution partners.

Blake
Forslund

VP of Information Technology

Blake Forslund has 24 years of experience in IT and is excited to be a part of the Marceco Team. Throughout his career, he has held positions in Account Management, Systems Administration, Systems Engineering, and most recently Director of Technical Services. This fundamental experience bolstered his business acumen, technical skills and knowledge, and leadership skills. As Marceco continues its growth plan, Blake’s leadership and experience will be a vital part of helping the company reach its goals.

Culture at Marceco

The relationships we forge with our retailers bring a deep and unparalleled understanding of their needs. Our experience and dedication empowers each of our retailers to meet their maximum potential. We owe our years of success to remaining grounded, practicing integrity in our work, and honoring our commitment to serving others.

Our Core Values

We Put Relationships First
  • I take responsibility to learn and grow as an individual and as part of my team.
  • I respect and value others, sharing my opinions and seeking theirs.
  • I stand behind the decisions of my team and the company.
  • I take the responsibility to make the work environment pleasant, enjoyable and fun.
We Act With Integrity
  • I conduct myself in an honest, trustworthy, ethical manner in every circumstance.
  • I give 100% at all times.
  • I do the right thing and do things right.
We Focus On Our Customer’s Delight

Internally and Externally

  • I listen to my customers to determine the best solutions for their needs.
  • I take the time to understand my customer’s perspective.
  • I exceed my customer’s expectations.
We Take Ownership
  • I respect company resources as if they were my own.
  • I always act in the best interests of the company.
  • I do what I say I will do.
  • I am accountable and act with a sense of urgency.

The Midwestern work ethic is alive and well across the Marceco footprint. We pride ourselves on being the most engaged Direct Distribution Partner. We will know your name, your challenges and most importantly, share with you the secrets of success in this industry.

Careers

Joining Marceco is like joining a nationwide family—there’s always a family member nearby. We provide a competitive salary, 401(k) options, health coverage, and much more to help get your career started.

Our History

MAY 1995

David DenHerder formed Prepaid Phone Cards—a sole proprietorship for the distribution of prepaid long-distance cards.

What began as a kitchen table business based in Grand Rapids, Michigan, would grow to become Marceco LTD as we know it today.

Year of 1996

Jamal Aqel began selling pagers in his party store. Kicking off a long career in the wireless industry.

Year of 1999

David DenHerder formed Marceco LTD and began selling Omnipoint and VoiceStream for Universal Wireless Inc.

Year of 1999

Jamal Aqel formed Universal Wireless Inc.

In the same year, Universal Wireless began selling Omnipoint and Nextel in their premier location in Standale, Michigan.

OCT 2004

Marceco LTD became on of 48 Master Agents with Boost Mobile, allowing for the growth of a robust network of numerous sub-dealer partners.

Year of 2004

Universal Wireless became an exclusive partner with Nextel as a Diamond Distributor.

In the same year, Jamal Aqel officially partnered with Marceco LTD.

MAY 2005

Marceco LTD expanded for the first time outside Grand Rapids, Michigan into Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Year of 2005

Sprint acquired Nextel to form Sprint Nextel.

Following the merger, Universal Wireless became of one of Sprint Nextel’s Preferred Partners.

JAN 2009

Marceco LTD continued growth into Milwaukee, St Louis, Columbus and Detroit.

Year of 2009

Universal Wireless expanded their market outside of Michigan for the first time by opening locations in Wisconsin.

Year of 2010

Universal continued their growth by expanding further into Pennsylvania and eight other markets.

MAY 2013

Marceco LTD acquired American Wireless based out of Campbell, California.

DEC 2013

Marceco LTD purchased the retail assets of Revol based in Cleveland, Ohio.

MARCH 2016

Marceco LTD acquired Top Up Solutions (based in Southern California) and became an additional western foothold as Marceco LTD experienced further growth.

Year of 2016

Marceco LTD and Universal Wireless Inc merged.

NOVEMBER 2017

Marceco LTD launched a Prepaid Retail Business, Vista PCS.

APRIL 2020

Boost acquired by Dish during T-Mobile + Sprint Merger.

JULY 2020

Marceco LTD launched a GSM Unlocked Program. This allowed additional device purchase options for dealer with new profit margin opportunities.

FEBRUARY 2021

Marceco LTD acquired North American Wireless adding 280 New York locations to distribution.

APRIL 2021

Universal Wireless was sold to TCC Wireless a T-Mobile retail dealer based out of Chicago.

MAY 2021

Marceco LTD adopted the Entrepreneurial Operating System. EOS is a people operating system that helps guide our business.

August 2021

Marceco LTD partnered with Bumpboxx to become an exclusive distributor.

SEPTEMBER 2021

Dish announced DDP consolidiation. This consolidation officially named Marceco LTD as 1 of the 4 approved Direct Distribution Partners.

With this, Marceco LTD onboarded almost 200 additional locations once connected to former DDP’s, Actify and Hyperlink.

February 2022

Marceco LTD became an offical Gen Mobile DDP.