Sweetwater president and founder Chuck Surack (left) accepts the BCA award from BCA board member Martha Ingram of Ingram Book Group.
The Business Committee for the Arts Inc. (BCA) named Sweetwater Sound Inc. in Fort Wayne, Ind., to its BCA Ten list—the Best Companies Supporting the Arts in America. This national list, the first of its kind created by a nonprofit organization, was initiated by BCA in 2005 to recognize 10 companies each year for providing exceptional support of the arts in the U.S. through grants, volunteer programs, matching gifts, local partnerships, sponsorships and board membership.
“These businesses are recognized for their exceptional involvement in the arts for the purpose of enriching the workplace, education and the community,” says J. Barry Griswell, chairman of the BCA’s board of directors. “They provide the arts with significant financial and in-kind support, and they incorporate meaningful arts-related programs into lives of millions of Americans. This year’s extraordinary honorees have taken a proactive approach by leading, developing and sustaining arts and arts education programming in communities of all sizes, across the nation.”
The BCA Ten awards were presented by BCA, Forbes magazine and Americans for the Arts on October 30, 2008, at a black-tie gala at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City.
The other nine companies on the 2008 BCA Ten list are Anadarko Petroleum Corporation (Houston), Brown-Forman Corporation (Louisville, Ky.), Emprise Bank (Wichita, Kan.), First Tennessee (Memphis, Tenn.), H&R Block Inc., (Kansas City, Mo.), Limited Brands Inc. (Columbus, Ohio), Northwestern Mutual (Milwaukee), Wachovia (Charlotte, N.C.) and Zions First National Bank Salt Lake City).
For information about BCA and its programs and events, visit www.bcainc.org. For more information about Sweetwater Sound, visit www.sweetwater.com.
