MAY 9 | SWEETWATER | FACILITY
Sweetwater Outlines Advanced New Facility

Sweetwater is making plans to move to a new, larger headquarters campus. On May 3, Chuck Surack, Sweetwater founder and CEO, was joined by state and local economic development officials for a ground-breaking ceremony at the site of the company’s new location.

The relocation project involves a projected investment of $27 million in building improvements, including $2.5 million in machinery, equipment, furniture and fixtures. Construction at the new 150,000-square-foot, 44-acre campus is expected to take up to one year although parts of the company will begin relocating to the new facilities as soon as this fall.

The facility is designed to support the massive growth Sweetwater has projected for itself over the coming years. The company currently has more than 220 employees and expects to reach $180 million in annual sales and 450 employees by 2010.

“Sweetwater’s explosive growth has resulted in a need for significantly larger facilities,” Surack said. “This new campus gives us greatly expanded warehouse and shipping space, plus room to grow our marketing, sales, recording studio, and local retail departments. It will be a wonderful place for our employees to work from, and will offer many benefits to our local and regional customers.”

The facilities include a state-of-the-art distribution center, a media-rich auditorium and an technical training center designed by studio designer Russ Berger, as well as a greatly expanded retail store. A new multi-room professional recording studio, also designed by Berger, will feature acoustical and technical design on par with renown professional recording studios.

A wide range of employee amenities will be featured, including a private health club and racquetball court, indoor/outdoor restaurant-style dining, coffee shops, indoor video golf, pool tables and other recreation items, onsite print shop, a DVD lending library, and professional services including banking, legal and medical.

The new Sweetwater campus will also be one of the first LEED-certified facilities in the region. Developed by the U.S. Green Building Council, the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) program promotes facility design that works but practices environmental awareness and conservation.

sweetwater.com/feature/expansion