Chuck Surack

Surack was born in Waverly, Ohio, his family later relocating to Fort Wayne, Indiana. Surack was active in the Boy Scouts,[3] and attended Wayne High School, where he played saxophone in the school's marching band. Following high school, Surack toured with a band as a saxophone player and keyboardist.[4] In 1979 Surack decided to stop touring, and returned to his hometown of Fort Wayne, where he has continued to work as a musician to the present day, playing saxophone and keyboard as part of two bands, Prime Time[5] and the Sweetwater All Stars.[6] Upon settling back in Fort Wayne in 1979, Surack created a mobile 4-track recording studio within his Volkswagen Bus.[7]

Surack later established a recording studio in his home and named it Sweetwater Sound. In 1985, he purchased a Kurzweil K250 keyboard for use in the studio and commissioned an engineer to reverse engineer it in order to develop and use sounds of his own design, establishing Surack as an expert within the K250 community. Sweetwater Sound was eventually selling K250 sound libraries and became established as a Kurzweil K250 reseller. Being part of the small professional K250 community allowed Surack to develop relationships and work with artists such as Kenny Rogers and Stevie Wonder. Sweetwater began selling more and more pro audio equipment, and eventually Sweetwater's retail business surpassed its recording studio business.[8][9] By 2016, Sweetwater had become the largest online retailer of music instruments and equipment in the U.S.[10] Surack remains Founder and Chairman of Sweetwater Sound, with John Hopkins taking over as CEO in July 2021.[11][12]

Beginning in 2010, Surack acquired and founded several other businesses, which have come to be referred to as the Sweet Family of Companies.

• SweetCars In February 2010, Surack submitted a proposal to convert an abandoned building on Jefferson Boulevard in Fort Wayne into a luxury car dealership to the Fort Wayne Redevelopment Commission, which agreed to transfer the property to Surack in exchange for his financial commitment to improve the property in order to open and operate the dealership.[13] The car dealership, SweetCars, opened in December 2011.[14]

• Sweet Aviation In August 2011, Surack acquired the assets of Smith Field Air Services and established Sweet Aviation, a Fort Wayne flight school.[15]

• Longe Optical In September 2012, Surack purchased the assets of Longe Optical, a Fort Wayne-based optical business with 5 storefronts.[16]

• Sweet Helicopters In 2012, Surack founded Indiana Helicopters, a charter helicopter service based in Goshen, Indiana, and purchased Helimotion, an aerial film production and executive charter service based in Chicago, two years later. In August 2017 Indiana Helicopters merged with Helimotion to form Sweet Helicopters.[17][18][19]

• Aviation Specialty Insurance Surack also acquired Aviation Specialty Insurance, a company formerly known as Corporate Aviation Insurance Group (CAIG) that provides general aviation insurance services.[20][21]

• The Enstrom Helicopter Corporation In May of 2022, Surack purchased and became the owner of Enstrom Helicopters in Menominee, MI.

• The Clyde Theatre In 2018, Surack increased his majority ownership stake to assume full ownership of The Clyde Theatre, a Fort Wayne music venue and event center.[22]

• The Club Room at the Clyde In 2019, he opened The Club Room at the Clyde, a restaurant adjacent to the Clyde Theatre,[23]

• Crescendo Coffee and More In the summer of 2020, Surack opened Crescendo Coffee and More adjacent to the Club Room at the Clyde.[24]

• Enstrom Helicopter Corporation. This company's assets were purchased from bankruptcy in May 2022.[25]

In 2020, Surack purchased the former headquarters of Pizza Hut of Fort Wayne and improved it to create The Kaizen Center. Originally intended as a corporate event space, the facility now serves as the corporate offices for Surack Enterprises and its two subsidiary organizations: the Sweet Family of Companies and the Surack Family Foundation.[26]

Surack and his wife Lisa contribute to more than 600 nonprofit organizations annually,[27] with past charitable donations to the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music,[28] Arts United of Fort Wayne,[29] the Fort Wayne Philharmonic Orchestra,[30] Easter Seals ARC of Northeast Indiana,[31] and the Voices of Unity Youth Choir.[32] Surack and his wife also established the Chuck and Lisa Surack Endowed Scholarship for Music Technology at the University of Saint Francis.[33]

In July 2021, Surack and his wife Lisa established the Surack Family Foundation, with the intention of providing grants to nonprofits in the areas of music and arts that they have historically supported, but also mental health, teenage suicide prevention, child and family welfare, and economic development in Northeast Indiana.[26]

He is currently the board chair for the Fort Wayne Philharmonic Orchestra, Global Leadership Summit & Beyond Fort Wayne,[34] and the Fort Wayne Children's Zoo[35] and holds positions on the Board of Directors of the NAMM Foundation,[36] Boys & Girls Club of Northeast Indiana,[37] and Canterbury School.

Surack is married to his wife Lisa, with whom he has two stepsons and a daughter, Adderly (whose name was influenced by the name of saxophonist Cannonball Adderley).[38] He has cited his father, Jim, a chemical engineer and airplane pilot, as a major influence.[39]