ATLANTA, GEORGIA: 1 January 2003 – This year marks the 50th anniversary of Baker Audio, Inc., an industry leader and pioneer in the field of design-build audio/visual services headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, USA.

Baker Audio works in solutions as diverse as entertainment and sports venues, educational facilities, corporations, airlines, airports, and 24 hour operations centers. Baker Audio engineers have designed and installed A/V systems throughout North America, Europe, and Asia. Baker will celebrate its 50th anniversary throughout the year with various events, including a Customer/Business Partner Appreciation Day during the summer.

Under the leadership of presidents Duke Mewborn and Keith Hicks, Baker Audio has accumulated an impressive client list that includes Home Depot, Cox Enterprises, Sony, Disney, Turner Pictures, AGL Resources, Coca Cola Enterprises, United Airlines, and Universal Islands of Adventure ?just to name a few.

Current president Keith Hicks attributes the company’s enduring and illustrious presence in the industry to five decades of solid knowledge and experience, the superior quality of A/V systems designed by Baker’s engineers, excellent after-sales support and customer service, and a continued commitment to listening to its customers and employees.

“The A/V industry has seen many companies of all sizes come and go,” Hicks says. “Baker Audio has remained profitable and prosperous because our customers are confident that we will be able to support them - today, tomorrow, and decades from now.” Hicks points to Atlanta’s Hartsfield International Airport as an example of a satisfied 50-year Baker Audio client.

A History of Excellence

Throughout its 50-year history, Baker Audio has delivered innovative technology solutions to both a national and international clientele. Maintaining especially close ties to Georgia businesses, Baker has played a significant part in shaping the sights and sounds for many Georgia institutions over the past 50 years. Early clients included Hartsfield International Airport, Atlanta Fulton County Stadium, Delta, and the Georgia Institute of Technology.

In 1965, when the Beatles played their first concert in Atlanta, the band asked Baker’s engineers to help them with the audio for the concert. Baker Audio was the sound equipment provider for Atlanta Fulton County Stadium at the time. Says Hicks, “Back then, bands didn’t tour with their own equipment – they used the equipment provided by the venue they were playing at. Evidently, the Beatles liked what we did for them so much that they asked Duke Mewborn, our then-president, to accompany them for the remainder of their American tour. The reason they were so impressed was because Duke was the first person to put monitors on the stage so they could hear themselves…the band said it was the best concert audio they had ever received up to that point.”

Mewborn declined the Beatles’ offer to travel with them and, instead, remained in Atlanta to focus on growing Baker Audio into the profitable business that it is today. Soon Baker added clients outside of Georgia, then outside of the Southeast, and finally internationally in the 1990’s.