Burton Snowboards Burton Snowboards takes surfing to the slopes with its line of premium snowboards and snowboarding equipment. The company is the world's leading snowboard maker, controlling about 40% of the market. Burton Snowboards also produces and sells snowboarding apparel, boots, bindings, packs, luggage, eyewear, and outerwear. Brands include Burton snowboards; AK, Radar, and Ronin outerwear; R.E.D. protective gear; Anon opticwear; Gravis footwear; and Analog streetwear. Burton Snowboards operates three factory outlet stores located in Massachusetts, Vermont (at the company's headquarters), and in Austria. The company is owned by its chairman, Jake Burton, a snowboarding enthusiast who founded the company in 1977.

Jake Burton pioneered snowboarding after quitting a high-paying financial job in 1977 to make his passion for surfing mountains a legitimate sport. He converted a village house and barn in Vermont into a factory for his snowboards and lobbied ski resorts to allow snowboarders on the slopes. Though snowboarding debuted as an Olympic sport in Nagano in 1998, it continues to be an edgy sport with a renegade image.

The firm encourages newbies to feel the powder with its Learn To Ride (LTR) line of equipment and programs at ski resorts nationwide. Burton also sponsors Chill, a program that puts inner-city kids on snowboards during a seven-week course.

Sysco(Detroit) As a subsidiary of SYSCO Corporation, the largest foodservice distributor in North America, SYSCO Food Services of Detroit distributes fresh and frozen meat, poultry, seafood, fruits and vegetables, canned and dry products, paper and disposable products, cleaning supplies, kitchen equipment, and medical supplies. The company provides an inventory of some 275,000 products to restaurants, schools, hotels, health care institutions, and other foodservice customers. The parent company has a network of more than 165 facilities throughout the US and Canada.