Georgia Highlands College (GHC) will host the 2022 Charger Innovation Challenge (CIC) on April 15. The deadline for students to register is April 1.
The “Shark Tank”-styled business competition is undergoing changes this year, including the creation of the CIC Interdisciplinary Planning Committee, allowing teams of up to four students, finding more local judges, implementing a virtual round and holding the competition face-to-face.
Assistant Professor of Logistics and Supply Chain Management and Committee Chair Lucinda Montgomery says the planning committee is the greatest change to this year’s competition, integrating the perspectives of GHC faculty to help shape the competition.
The 2022 CIC Interdisciplinary Planning Committee includes Denie Burks of the School of Business and Professional Studies, Shanika Wright-Turner of the School of Business and Professional Studies, Justin Polizzi of the School of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math), Travice Baldwin Obas of the School of Humanities, and Alex Reiter of the School of Humanities.
In addition, this is the first year the CIC will hold Pitch Day in person, with past years being held on Zoom.
“While it was still a valuable experience for students, the committee wanted to bring Pitch Day to the next level,” Montgomery said. “There is something vastly different when you are face-to-face and can genuinely connect with the judges and the audience.”
This year’s judges include Wing Zone founder and entrepreneur Matt Friedman, CEO and President of Hard Time Products Harry Pierce, inventor of Renegade Hard Lemonade Brady Reiter, as well as a secret judge to be revealed on Pitch Day, who is confirmed to be a CEO of a local consulting firm.
Multiple prizes will be awarded this year, including a $1,000 prize from sponsor the Atlanta Roundtable of the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals, as well as prizes for second- and third-place teams and giveaways for all participants.
The inspiration to create a CIC Interdisciplinary Planning Committee comes from Montgomery’s use of The Theory of Constraints (TOC) and the tools to create continuous change, after each CIC Montgomery analyzes the entire process of the competition.
“The questions I seek to answer are based on the TOC Thinking Processes: What to Change, What to Change to, and How to Cause the Change,” Montgomery said. “Since I have been the sole planner of past competitions, the need to overcome the resistance to change has not limited.”
The event will be held on April 15 from 10 AM to 2 PM at the Cartersville Student Center Ballroom and is open to all GHC students. Register by April 1.
For more information, email innovation@highlands.edu.
