Sweetwater Hires 20 New Employees

Fort Wayne, IN, August 25, 2016 — Sweetwater recently hired 20 new employees, including 10 new Sales Engineers. Nine of the 20 moved to Fort Wayne from out-of-state.

The new Executive Director of two major Sweetwater programs, the Academy of Music and GearFest, Bob Bailey was the Sweetwater in-house manufacturer's representative for Roland and BOSS Corporation US from 2006 to 2015. In 2015, he accepted the position of Director of Sales and Marketing for BOSS Corporation US. His responsibilities will include managing and guiding the explosive growth of both the Academy of Music and Sweetwater's GearFest trade show.
Sales Engineer Gabe Jimenez is from Virginia Beach, VA. He joined the Navy shortly after high school and is still in the Naval Reserves. For the last 3 years, he has been an engineer and session drummer and guitarist for Galaxy Music Group.

Sales Engineer Mike LaFratte is from North Port, Florida, and a 2015 graduate of the music recording program at Luzerne County College in Pennsylvania.

Sales Engineer Mark Johnson is from Waterloo, IN. He has been the lighting equipment operator for RR Donnelley for the last 2 years.

Sales Engineer Keith Owen is a Fort Wayne native and has a Bachelor's Degree in Spanish from IPFW and has been an English as a Second Language Assistant for Fort Wayne Community Schools.

Sales Engineer Shelby Strunk is from Richmond, IN and has been heavily involved in his church running sound, lighting, and video production.

Sales Engineer Brad Irvan is from Clarktson, MI, where he was an Audio Instructor at both The Art Institute of Michigan and Mott Community College. He has a BA and a Master's in Broadcast and Cinematic Arts from Central Michigan University.

Sales Engineer Jared Madigan is from Puyallup, Washington. For the last 12 years he has worked at Guitar Center, most recently as store manager.

Sales Engineer Zach Richards is from North Canton, OH. He is a graduate of Capital University with a BA in Music Technology.

Sales Engineer Bowen Aguero is from Moultrie, Georgia. He attended Emmanuel College until transferring to Dark Horse Institute in 2015. After an internship at Dark Horse Recording he became a Staff Engineer.

Music Store Sales Engineer Aaron Chandler is from Chicago Ridge, Illinois, and just graduated from Millikin University with his Bachelor's Degree in Commercial Music/Music Business.

Sweetwater Studios Engineer and Producer Dave Martin played and produced for three decades at his own Nashville area Java Jive Studios. Dave is also an accomplished bassist, who has played with A list recording artists in Nashville, both in the studio and on the road, including Bill Monroe, Charlie Pride, The Drifters, The Box Tops, Old Crow Medicine Show, Porter Wagoner, and Cheap Trick's Rick Nielsen.

Front End Developer Kyle Affolder holds a music technology degree from Ball State and since graduating in 2011 has worked for Blue Sky Technology Partners and in ministry with Grace Church, both in Noblesville, Indiana.

Digital Marketing Director Zac Bogart brings more than a decade of experience in director level positions within the digital marketing field. He is from Austin, Texas, where he was most recently the VP of Digital Marketing for a tech startup.

Photographer Joe Blust has a Bachelors of Arts in Communications and Media Production from IPFW.

iOS/Objective C Developer Cody Dietz studied Mathematics & Computer Science at Purdue University (Fort Wayne).

Service Department Material Handler Tommy Saul is a long time piano player and currently is the Music Director for the Three Rivers Music Theatre Company.

Warranty Claims Administrator Jennifer Martin was a patient care coordinator for InnverVision Advanced Medical Imaging for over 12 years and obtained her Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration from Indiana University in Kokomo.

Support Technician Dakota Bishop is from Vincennes, Indiana, where he completed his audio recording degree at Vincennes University in 2015.

Pastry Chef Nicole Hause is a graduate of Ivy Tech's Hospitality Administration program where her focus was baking and pastry arts.

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About Sweetwater Sound
Founded in 1979, Sweetwater is the nation's leading retailer in instruments and pro audio equipment for musicians, recording studios, broadcast, education, and houses of worship. Sweetwater's customers can be found everywhere music is heard and audio is played, broadcast, or recorded, including recording, film, and broadcast studios in New York, Nashville, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Miami; in hundreds of thousands of home recording studios; and in schools and churches nationwide. Sweetwater's founding and meteoric growth are built on a knowledgeable and experienced staff, outstanding selection and pricing, and above all, an unwavering commitment to customer service excellence in every situation. For further information, visit Sweetwater.com.

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