Release Date: Friday, January 27, 2006

Terry College MBAs win Net Impact Sustainability Case Competition

ATHENS, Ga. — A team of four MBA students from the University of Georgia's Terry College of Business won the second annual Net Impact Sustainability Case Competition held at Wake Forest University.

The goal of the one-day competition was to develop and present a creative solution incorporating social and environmental factors to address an actual business challenge facing a corporate sponsor.

The Terry College team topped competitors from five nationally ranked MBA programs, including the University of North Carolina, Georgetown University, Vanderbilt University, the University of South Carolina and Wake Forest. The corporate sponsor providing the case was the Home Depot and its partner organization, Hands On Network, which is reviewing the students' recommendations for possible implementation.

The six teams were challenged to develop business strategies to increase volunteerism throughout North America by 10 percent to 6.4 million people by 2007. Teams were also asked to think of creative solutions to engage the community, employees, and a corporate advisory council made of up of 29 Fortune 500 companies committed to volunteerism. The presentations were judged by a corporate social responsibility executive from Dell, an executive from the United Way, and an account manager from the Hands On Network.

The members of the winning team were: second-year MBA student Tracy Dunbar, 11-month MBA student Tracy Coffin, first-year MBA student Arnab Bagchi, and first-year MBA student Mukund Karegar.

The team members received a $400 prize to be redeemed at any Home Depot store.

The January 13 competition was sponsored by the Wake Forest MBA chapter of the Net Impact club, a national network of business leaders and MBA students committed to integrating social and environmental concerns into business decisions.

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