Business, Ag Leaders Hear Sweetwater CEO On Values
March 5, 2019 at 6:02 p.m.
By Terry White-
The values that drive his business, Surack said, are that all employees strive to be “trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent.”
At the event, held in the Manahan Orthopaedic Capital Center on the Grace College campus, Surack was interviewed by Suzie Light of the Kosciusko Community Foundation on the topic “Becoming a Business of Choice for Both Customers and Employees.”
Surack’s business, Sweetwater Sound, is the nation’s leading supplier of musical instruments and related technology. Sweetwater employs 1,500 people over nearly a dozen enterprises, and expansion plans are underway to add 1,000 employees and to develop a 400,000-square-foot warehouse on the Sweetwater property, located on U.S. 30 on the west side of Fort Wayne.
Asked about how he recruits and retains employees in northern Indiana, Surack said he touts the climate and the “changing of the four seasons” as an advantage. He said that approximately 70 percent of his new employees come from elsewhere.
“We’re building a culture that treats everyone with respect,” Surack said, noting that new sales engineers go through a 13-week training period before they ever get to talk to a customer.
“Everyone in a company is either adding or taking away value from the firm,” he said. Among his techniques for fostering employee satisfaction are a system of recognizing and celebrating successes by employees, and the on-site presence of a former pastor who helps with counseling and leadership development.
“We’re a family business,” Surack said, “and when our people hurt, we hurt.”
Surack said that every employee of Sweetwater is a potential spokesperson for the company, and thus each employee is empowered to help customers however possible.
“We look at customers not as a one-sale event, but as a lifetime relationship,” he said. “It’s not driven by the money,” he claimed, noting that rather than have an employee sell the most expensive instrument, he would rather they sell the correct or right thing.
Surack started his business 40 years ago, operating a crude recording studio out of a renovated Volkswagen van.
“I would always give customers more than they paid for,” he said. “And we still do that.”
He noted that every guitar Sweetwater sells is run through a 55-point quality check, and that Sweetwater sold 128,000 guitars this past year.
Asked how he competes successfully with online sellers like Amazon, Surack said, “Amazon does a terrific job of getting your product to you quickly, but you can’t call them on the phone for advice or operating instructions.”
He said, “I can compete against Amazon successfully because we have people you can talk to on the phone. We add value to every sale.”
Noting that his company is growing some 20 percent per year, Surack said they encourage employees to get involved in community activities. “I encourage all our folks to give back to their community,” he said. “As you give back you’re also helping yourself.”
Kosciusko County Farm Bureau president Bob Bishop, who founded the Barn & Business Breakfast five years ago, welcomed the crowd and pointed out that farmers are at great risk.
“The suicide rate for farmers is higher than any other occupation,” Bishop said, noting that their suicide rate is double that of military veterans.
Dr. Nate Bosch, director of the Lilly Center for Lakes & Streams, and Tobias Forshtay, who is program director of the new agricultural business curriculum at Grace College, also addressed the crowd and introduced plans for a new crop certification program.
“The program is designed to promote high-quality agriculture, provide cutting-edge education and, ultimately, to protect the 100-plus lakes in Kosciusko County,” Bosch said. “Farmers play a crucial role in keeping our lakes, and therefore our economy, healthy. This certification helps us publicly recognize the work they do.”
Barn & Business Breakfast is an annual event planned by the Kosciusko County Community Foundation and the Kosciusko County Farm Bureau. It engages local partners and promotes open communication between business and agriculture leaders.
The breakfast is supported financially by a number of local businesses from the agricultural sector.
The values that drive his business, Surack said, are that all employees strive to be “trustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent.”
At the event, held in the Manahan Orthopaedic Capital Center on the Grace College campus, Surack was interviewed by Suzie Light of the Kosciusko Community Foundation on the topic “Becoming a Business of Choice for Both Customers and Employees.”
Surack’s business, Sweetwater Sound, is the nation’s leading supplier of musical instruments and related technology. Sweetwater employs 1,500 people over nearly a dozen enterprises, and expansion plans are underway to add 1,000 employees and to develop a 400,000-square-foot warehouse on the Sweetwater property, located on U.S. 30 on the west side of Fort Wayne.
Asked about how he recruits and retains employees in northern Indiana, Surack said he touts the climate and the “changing of the four seasons” as an advantage. He said that approximately 70 percent of his new employees come from elsewhere.
“We’re building a culture that treats everyone with respect,” Surack said, noting that new sales engineers go through a 13-week training period before they ever get to talk to a customer.
“Everyone in a company is either adding or taking away value from the firm,” he said. Among his techniques for fostering employee satisfaction are a system of recognizing and celebrating successes by employees, and the on-site presence of a former pastor who helps with counseling and leadership development.
“We’re a family business,” Surack said, “and when our people hurt, we hurt.”
Surack said that every employee of Sweetwater is a potential spokesperson for the company, and thus each employee is empowered to help customers however possible.
“We look at customers not as a one-sale event, but as a lifetime relationship,” he said. “It’s not driven by the money,” he claimed, noting that rather than have an employee sell the most expensive instrument, he would rather they sell the correct or right thing.
Surack started his business 40 years ago, operating a crude recording studio out of a renovated Volkswagen van.
“I would always give customers more than they paid for,” he said. “And we still do that.”
He noted that every guitar Sweetwater sells is run through a 55-point quality check, and that Sweetwater sold 128,000 guitars this past year.
Asked how he competes successfully with online sellers like Amazon, Surack said, “Amazon does a terrific job of getting your product to you quickly, but you can’t call them on the phone for advice or operating instructions.”
He said, “I can compete against Amazon successfully because we have people you can talk to on the phone. We add value to every sale.”
Noting that his company is growing some 20 percent per year, Surack said they encourage employees to get involved in community activities. “I encourage all our folks to give back to their community,” he said. “As you give back you’re also helping yourself.”
Kosciusko County Farm Bureau president Bob Bishop, who founded the Barn & Business Breakfast five years ago, welcomed the crowd and pointed out that farmers are at great risk.
“The suicide rate for farmers is higher than any other occupation,” Bishop said, noting that their suicide rate is double that of military veterans.
Dr. Nate Bosch, director of the Lilly Center for Lakes & Streams, and Tobias Forshtay, who is program director of the new agricultural business curriculum at Grace College, also addressed the crowd and introduced plans for a new crop certification program.
“The program is designed to promote high-quality agriculture, provide cutting-edge education and, ultimately, to protect the 100-plus lakes in Kosciusko County,” Bosch said. “Farmers play a crucial role in keeping our lakes, and therefore our economy, healthy. This certification helps us publicly recognize the work they do.”
Barn & Business Breakfast is an annual event planned by the Kosciusko County Community Foundation and the Kosciusko County Farm Bureau. It engages local partners and promotes open communication between business and agriculture leaders.
The breakfast is supported financially by a number of local businesses from the agricultural sector.
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