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Anheuser-Busch Companies, Gold Coast Eagle Distributing Give $60,000 to New USF Sarasota-Manatee Campus Center

Gold Coast Eagle Distributing Founder and President John W. Saputo, second from right, greets Dr. John Walker, McKibbon Professor at the USF School of Hotel and Restaurant Management, at the wholesaler’s headquarters, as Gold Coast Eagle Marketing and Key Accounts Manager Bethany Saputo, left, and VP of Marketing and Consumer Affairs Andrea Saputo-Cox look on.

SARASOTA, FL, (February 3, 2006) – Anheuser-Busch and Gold Coast Eagle Distributing have given a combined gift of $60,000 to the University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee toward technology and state-of-the-art enhancements of the new academic Campus Center opening in Fall 2006. The Anheuser-Busch/Saputo Family School of Hotel & Restaurant Management Classroom will be named in recognition of their gift.

Based in St. Louis, Anheuser-Busch is the leading American brewer, holding 50 percent of the U.S. beer market. The company is American-owned and brews the world’s largest-selling beers, Budweiser and Bud Light. Anheuser-Busch ranked first in the U.S. beverage industry in Fortune magazine’s 2005 “America’s Most Admired Companies” and in the top 30 of Fortune’s 2005 “Global Most Admired Companies” list. The company is one of the largest theme park operators in the U.S. It also is a major manufacturer of aluminum cans and is the word’s largest recycler of aluminum beverage containers. For more information, visit www.anheuser-busch.com.

Over the past decade, Anheuser-Busch and its charitable foundation have donated more than $340 million to charitable organizations, including colleges and universities, health-care institutions, social service agencies, civic organizations, and arts and cultural groups.
 
Gold Coast Eagle Distributing L.P. of Sarasota, founded by John W. Saputo in 1996, is one of large network of Anheuser-Busch wholesalers, breweries and shippers that make up the most extensive and effective beer distribution system in the brewing industry. The company employs about 145 associates to sell and market all Anheuser-Busch and Modelo/Corona brands to over 1,400 clients in the Sarasota-Manatee area. Like its parent organization, Gold Coast Eagle Distributing believes strongly in supporting the community it calls home and sees higher education as a priority.

“The heart and soul of a community is its industry workforce, entertainment, cultural and educational amenities,” said Saputo, Gold Coast Eagle Distributing president. “Having USF Sarasota-Manatee and the School of Hotel and Restaurant Management in my community is idyllic for my industry.”

Saputo graduated summa cum laude from Boston College with a bachelor’s in accounting and received the Thomas Gasson Award for Superior Academic Achievement. He has been in the industry for more than 30 years and has served on various community boards, including Sarasota Chamber of Commerce, and SunTrust Bank. His company has supported over 300 Manatee and Sarasota nonprofits with cash and product donations in recent years.

Saputo is a recently retired Colonel in the Marine Corps Reserves serving for 32 ½ years. He served in Desert Shield/Desert Storm as a Company Commander and was awarded a Bronze Star with Combat V for Valor. His most recent assignment was chief of Current Operations at US Central Command serving in Iraq, Qatar, and Tampa. He was recently awarded a Defense Meritorious Service Medal by General Tommy Franks in 2004.

Matching funds under the Alec P. Courtelis Facility Enhancement Challenge grant from the Florida Division of Colleges and Universities brings the value of this gift to $120,000. This 100-percent matching grant is a one-time opportunity only available during new construction to provide funds for state-of-the-art technology and enhancements. The USF Foundation, a direct support organization of the university, manages endowed gifts and provides ongoing funds through investment earnings.

The new USF Sarasota-Manatee Campus Center will be a 100,000-square-foot facility with 24 classrooms; a 190-seat lecture/exhibition hall; seminar and video-conferencing rooms; computer labs; a child care center; student gathering places; faculty and staff offices; a technology and learning center; dining facilities; and training facilities for the School of Hotel and Restaurant Management. Once completed, the academic Center will offer some 800 courses annually in 39 academic programs.

USF Sarasota-Manatee is an upper-level campus for those with an associate’s or bachelor’s degree interested in pursuing a baccalaureate or master’s degree, professional certification, or continuing education credit. The campus offers the prestige of a nationally ranked research university with the convenience of a hometown campus, including classes in south Sarasota County at Manatee Community College Venice.