Sweetwater Sound

Sweetwater
Corporation
Founded 1979
Headquarters Fort Wayne, Indiana
Key people
 Chuck Surack (founder), President / CEO
John Hopkins, Executive Vice President / COO
Jeff Radke, Executive Vice President of Sales / CSO
Marc Leveridge, Senior Vice President / CFO
Products Musical instruments, Recording equipment and accessories
Revenue $353 Million [1]
Number of employees
 850
Website www.sweetwater.com

Sweetwater is one of the United States' largest dealers in musical equipment for musicians, recording studios, schools, churches, concert sound companies and broadcasters. Sweetwater sells pro audio equipment, digital recording systems, pianos and keyboards, guitars, microphones, mixers, loudspeakers, signal processors, and drums.

History

Chuck Surack established the company in 1979 in Fort Wayne, Indiana so that he could stop being a touring musician. The company originally offered recording services via a remote recording studio in Surack's Volkswagen microbus and a recording studio based out of his home.[2] When the Kurzweil K250 programmable keyboard and sampler was introduced in 1984, Surack became known for his custom K250 sound library and programming skills as well as his upgrade kits. Surack became a Kurzweil dealer, but his clients were asking for advice regarding other products as well. Surack expanded Sweetwater to become a music retailer whose emphasis was pre- and post-sale customer service. By 1990, with 6 employees and annual sales of $6 million, Sweetwater had outgrown Surack's home and moved into its own commercial building.[3][4]

In 1995, Sweetwater mounted an informational website: www.sweetwater.com, and by 1999, most of the inventory was available for purchase online.[5] Electronic Musician included sweetwater.com as one of nine essential online information resources for a musician, due to its 63,000 pages including instructional videos, demos and technical documents.[6]

Expansion

In 2006, with 220 employees and continued business growth, Sweetwater commissioned MSKTD & Associates, Inc. to design and master plan a new 44-acre corporate campus. The new headquarters, consisting of corporate offices, a distribution center with warehouse, and a retail store, also included the Sweetwater Productions recording studio complex and 250-seat LARES-equipped performance theater, both designed by Russ Berger Design Group.[7][8] Sweetwater's new facility was certified LEED Platinum by the U.S. Green Building Council in April, 2009.[9]

Philanthropy

Majic Miracle Music

In 2006, Sweetwater Productions and local Fort Wayne radio station WAJI Majic 95.1 started a partnership to record live, acoustic music from nationally-recognized artists and bands traveling through Fort Wayne. These recordings, along with others, have been used to produce "Majic Miracle Music" charity CDs to benefit Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis. Artists who recorded at Sweetwater Productions for "Majic Miracle Music" CDs include REO Speedwagon, Ingrid Michaelson, Lenka, Aimee Allen, Jars of Clay, Landon Pigg, Ben Jelen, Josh Kelley, Sara Bareilles, Jon McLaughlin, Gin Blossoms, and Collective Soul.[10]

Awards

See also

References

External links

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