Sweetwater

Sweetwater founder and Chairman of the Board Chuck Surack is featured on the latest episode of the top-ranked business and entrepreneurship podcast How I Built This with Guy Raz, where he discusses how his music career, a converted VW van, and an obsession with customer relationships became the foundation of America's largest online music retailer. Chuck never set out to build a company. Right out of high school, Chuck packed his saxophone into a VW van and hit the road to play gigs. What started as a music career quickly evolved into something bigger when Chuck converted the van into a mobile recording studio. From there, he developed digitized sound libraries to sell nationally, moved into high-end pro audio gear, and built a sales culture rooted in genuine customer relationships. How I Built This is hosted by longtime NPR correspondent Guy Raz and features in-depth conversations with founders and entrepreneurs about the real story behind building iconic brands. Each episode covers the triumphs, the failures, and the moments of doubt that most business success stories leave out. Thank you to Guy Raz and the How I Built This team for letting us share the Sweetwater story. The full episode is available now at https://lnkd.in/gSczzCrK. #WeAreSweetwater #FullTimeDream #HowIBuiltThis #CustomerExperience #Entrepreneurship #Leadership

Sweetwater is proud to share that Founder and Chairman of the Board Chuck Surack and CEO/President Mike Clem have both been named to the IBJ Media 2026 Indiana 250, honoring the state's most influential and impactful leaders across business, government, and nonprofit sectors. Now in its fifth year, the Indiana 250 is built the idea that leadership is measured not just by the size of an organization, but by the depth of its impact on the people and communities it serves. IBJ Media's editorial teams at the Indianapolis Business Journal, Inside INdiana Business, and The Indiana Lawyer spend months researching, consulting community leaders, and evaluating nominees from across the state before the list is finalized. Chuck is recognized in the Civic Leadership category, a reflection of a lifetime spent investing in Fort Wayne well beyond the walls of Sweetwater. Chuck founded Sweetwater in 1979 and has continued to shape the community through Surack Enterprises, a holding company spanning 20 businesses. Most recently, Chuck opened Pearl Arts Inc. in 2024, a nonprofit providing musical and educational opportunities to Fort Wayne residents regardless of their ability to pay. Mike is recognized in the Real Estate, Retail & Construction category, a testament to the growth of a company that started in a spare bedroom and has become the nation's largest online retailer of musical instruments, home audio equipment, and content creator gear. Mike joined Sweetwater in 2003 to launch its online division, making him one of the early pioneers of e-commerce in the music industry. He helped build one of the first major music retail websites, shifting the industry from local store transactions to a national marketplace without ever sacrificing the personal, expertise-driven experience customers deserved. Mike has served as President and CEO since 2023, leading a nearly $2 billion company that continues to raise the bar on what music retail can be. What makes this moment feel especially meaningful is the foundation of both these recognitions. Sweetwater's Sales Engineers communicate with musicians every day to help them find the right microphone for a home studio, or a chase a sound they’ve not quite found in yet. The culture Chuck built and Mike continues to lead is the reason those conversations go the way they do. The commitment to genuine service, deep product knowledge, and treating every customer as a person worth investing in runs through the entire organization. Explore the full list at www.Indiana250.com. #WeAreSweetwater #FullTimeDream #Indiana250

Today, Sweetwater celebrated the people who make everything possible. Camp Sweetwater brought our team together for an afternoon of good food, great music, and genuine recognition. Nelson's BBQ fired up the smokers before daybreak to serve a camp-style lunch that set the tone for the whole event, and our live DJ kept the energy going from the first set to the last. The celebration also gave us a chance to pause and recognize the colleagues who lead with purpose. Sweetwater's 5 Imperatives Awards and the Manager Excellence Award highlighted teammates who consistently go above and beyond, not because they have to, but because that is simply who they are. The 2026 Battle of the Bands winner was announced to the crowd, and the Adventure in Harmony chalk art trail gave everyone a chance to experience the creativity that runs through this organization every single day. Sweetwater exists to help musicians achieve their dreams, and that work only happens because of the people behind it. Today was a reminder of just how strong that team is.Thank you to everyone who helped plan, organize, and participate in Camp Sweetwater. Here is to another year of doing what we love, together. #WeAreSweetwater #FullTimeDream #EmployeeAppreciation

Did you know there’s a world-class outdoor concert venue at Sweetwater? The Sweetwater Performance Pavilion sits right here on our campus in Fort Wayne, Indiana, and it’s exactly what it sounds like: professional production infrastructure, lighting and sound, guest hospitality, and a calendar of nationally recognized artists — all on the same grounds where our team shows up every day. The Performance Pavilion is a natural extension of what Sweetwater has always believed, that music dreams are worth investing in and that the people who work here deserve to be surrounded by their passion. Employees receive 25% off up to four tickets per show, which makes the Pavilion a genuine workplace perk on top of everything else it represents. Learn more about the Sweetwater Performance Pavilion at https://lnkd.in/eghjyKke. #WeAreSweetwater #FullTimeDream

Sweetwater’s YouTube channel has officially crossed the one million subscriber mark! This milestone belongs entirely to the community that has been watching, learning, and growing with us for more than 17 years. To celebrate, Sweetwater brought together some of its most iconic content creators for an all-star performance of Rush’s classic “Tom Sawyer,” plus a roundtable discussion that takes a look back at the moments and memories that made this channel what it is today. Thank you for every view, every comment, and every share that helped us build something truly special. The full video is live now on the Sweetwater YouTube channel. Check it out at https://lnkd.in/e5QVpuMR. #WeAreSweetwater #FullTimeDream

Sweetwater is proud to announce a new milestone, ranking number four overall in the 2026 Top 100 North America Inspiring Workplaces Awards. Sweetwater is the highest-ranked retailer on this year's list and the best-ranked company in Indiana, climbing five spots from ninth place in 2025. Sweetwater also earned four special recognition awards covering culture and purpose, employee experience, inclusion, and wellbeing. “This ranking reflects something we think about every day,” said Sweetwater CEO Mike Clem. “A great customer experience starts with a great employee experience.” Sweetwater approaches employee health intentionally across five key areas, including mental, physical, financial, social, and professional health. That means free on-campus mental health counseling, a fully equipped fitness center, an on-site medical clinic, monthly financial education sessions, education reimbursement with deferred payment options, and company-wide events that bring the whole Sweetwater family together. None of this happens by accident. It happens because the people here are committed to building something special together every single day. See more at https://lnkd.in/ex5n6b9F. #WeAreSweetwater #FullTimeDream #InspiringWorkplaces

Sweetwater had the pleasure of welcoming one of rock’s most respected drummers for an evening that beautifully captured what makes this campus so special.   Presented by Drum Workshop, Inc. (DW Drums), Avenged Sevenfold drummer Brooks Wackerman brought his exciting new solo project, MISSOULA, to the Sweetwater Performance Theatre for an exclusive listening party and drum clinic, giving guests at the sold-out event a genuine first listen to unreleased music from his upcoming album before it reaches the rest of the world.   Brooks generously walked the room through the stories behind the music, broke down his grooves and arrangements, and delivered a warm and intimate clinic that put attendees right inside the mind of a master at work. It was an evening packed with incredible chops and genuine conversation.   This is what the Sweetwater campus experience is all about. It’s a welcoming destination where music happens, artists share the next chapter of their story for the first time, and our community gets to be part of something truly memorable.   #WeAreSweetwater #FullTimeDream #BrooksWackerman #MISSOULA #DWDrums

We recently hosted another session of our Food for Thought Lunch and Learn series, bringing employees together for a panel discussion centered on professional growth and what it means to live the Sweetwater Difference. The session, titled “From Skill to Success: Learning Through the 5 Imperatives,” featured a panel of Sweetwater team members from across the organization who shared how mastering their individual skills helped them navigate their careers, tackle real challenges, and make meaningful impacts. The discussion was grounded in the five values that define how Sweetwater operates: Wow the Customer, Get Things Done, Obsess over Details, Drive Continuous Improvement, and Develop the Future. Watching colleagues share their stories with a full room of peers was a reminder that career growth rarely happens in a straight line. It happens when people invest in their craft, stay curious, and lean into the values that guide the work every day. What is one core value or principle from your organization that has shaped the way you approach your career? #WeAreSweetwater #FullTimeDream #SweetwaterDifference #Culture

Sweetwater CIO Jason Johnson is featured in a new story from CIO Online and reporter Esther Shein exploring why cloud strategies have never been more complex or more critical than they are today.   Jason puts it plainly: “The conversation has shifted from ‘should we?’ to ‘how do we get better at it?’ That’s where I spend most of my time.”   As AI accelerates cloud demand and providers keep expanding their catalogs with more services and more SKUs than ever, Jason describes the current environment as “genuinely one of the more complex times to be managing cloud.” Keeping up isn’t just a technical challenge; it’s a strategic one.   At Sweetwater, that means a clear-eyed focus on the second phase of cloud maturity: moving beyond migration and modernization and toward optimization, governance, AI enablement, and operational sustainability. Every workload is placed where it makes the most sense, with customer-facing systems positioned as close to the end user as possible.   Read more at https://lnkd.in/gBKEf8aT.   #WeAreSweetwater #FullTimeDream #CloudStrategy #CIO

Members of our Sweetwater team gathered at the Performance Pavilion right here on campus for a Habitat for Humanity of Greater Fort Wayne Wall Panel Build and an experience that reminded us why community matters so much. Seeing teammates trade in their laptops and headsets for hard hats and hammers was uplifting. People who collaborate every day in the office showed up to build something real, something that will one day be part of a place a family calls home. It’s a powerful reminder of what we can achieve for others when we work hard together. To everyone who volunteered, thank you. Your time and effort mean more than you know. And a big thank-you to the managers who encouraged their teams to participate. That kind of support makes all the difference. We are grateful to Habitat for Humanity for continuing to give us ways to show up for our neighbors. We can’t wait to do it again! #WeAreSweetwater #FullTimeDream #HabitatForHumanity #HabitatGFW #GivingBack #CommunityImpact