KENNESAW, Ga. | Jul 2, 2020

For the last five years, students in the prestigious Coles College Scholars Program have wrapped up the spring semester with a service learning trip to the Dominican Republic or Guatemala. The two-week experience, which combines small business, community service, and cultural immersion, is one of the program’s core activities.

This year, however, the COVID-19 pandemic meant that international travel was off the table. Stacy Campbell and Stephanie Miller, two faculty working with the Scholars program quickly restructured the Maymester course to instead include a domestic service project, which saw students improving efficiency and cost management for a local nonprofit that teaches veterans to become farmers.

The Coles College Scholars Program is a leadership development program designed to give high-achieving, highly motivated business students unique opportunities that challenge them, expand their capabilities, and improve their professional networks. It includes five specialized courses in leadership, critical thinking, consulting and change management, business intelligence, and international immersion.

The 19 scholars in the Maymester class worked with retired Master Sergeant Michael Reynolds, the owner of Reynolds Farms in Calhoun. Reynolds, who goes by the name Farmer Mike, retired from the U.S. Army in 2012 following a brain injury. What began as a personal goal to grow 80 percent of his family’s food has become an organization that uses farming to help veterans reenter society.

“Farmer Mike is leveraging his personal experiences to build his nonprofit,” said Campbell, the Scholars program’s executive director. “He shared with us that 22 veterans commit suicide each day in our country. For him, farming gives him focus and purpose for his family and others. Mike hopes that his organization will similarly save and transform the lives of those that have served our country.”

Michael J. Coles, the Coles College’s namesake, introduced Reynolds to Campbell, who invited him to work with the Scholars. Reynolds’ goal is to eventually build his business up enough to hire returning veterans to work on the farm and learn the skills needed to transition into a life of agriculture.

Working remotely, the students learned everything they could about Reynolds Farms. By studying its schedule, costs, prices, and Reynolds’ philosophy, they identified several process improvement opportunities.

The Maymester course also included a deep dive into using Excel for business. David Ringstrom, a CPA and recognized Excel expert who leads training courses for the Coles College, spent a week with the students enhancing their Excel skills, whichallowed them to create advanced tools to help ReynoldsThese tools include:

• A cost-comparison and scheduling tool dubbed the Cow-Culator. With it, Reynolds can compare the costs of raising a calf from birth to buying one at auction.
  
  
• A separate price comparison tool showing the difference between Reynolds’ produce prices and retail outlets and butcher shops. The students determined Reynolds could raise prices slightly and remain competitive.
  
  
• A cashflow planning tool – called the Moo-lah – that simplifies how Reynolds monitors inflows and outflows.

“Farmer Mike was astounded at how quickly the students absorbed knowledge about his farm and nonprofit,” Campbell said, “and is thrilled to have custom-written tools that suit his exact needs.”

While different from the traditional Maymester trip to the Dominican Republic, this year’s project focused on the same key themes as that experience. Students traditionally work with an organization called the Social Entrepreneur Corps to help a socially responsible business improve its processes and become more profitable. In 2018, they worked with a local Dominican nonprofit to create a social media campaign to enhance tourism.

“Mission-oriented projects that aim to serve a group in need very often end up providing growth and development as much for the students that serve as for the intended beneficiaries,” said Miller, an accounting professor who helped lead this year’s experience. “I think that was true this semester as well.”

While the scholars were understandably disappointed that their visit to the Dominican Republic was canceled, they enjoyed learning to use Excel to solve business problems and working directly with a nonprofit organization.

“I learned that it isn’t always about maximizing how much money you’re making,” said accounting major Amanda Soriano. “Some business owners are genuinely interested in making a great product or helping people. If they can make money too, it’s fine, but it isn’t always the central focus.”

Another accounting major, Sarah Dismukes, said the Excel portions of the course will help in her future career.

“As an accounting major, I always need to know more Excel skills beyond the basic level, which this class helped with. I think all students could benefit from a deeper level of Excel as well, as most employers want their employees to have this skill.”

Now that the students have met with Reynolds and learned about his process, the next step is to continue working with during the fall semester consulting and change management course to create a marketing/branding strategy.

A valuable lesson that Campbell said the students took away from the experience is that entrepreneurial, business-minded thinking can be used to create positive social change.

“A group of business students learned that profit isn’t always the overwhelming purpose of a business,” she said. “They can still have life-changing experiences when they’re stuck at home, and they can work Excel, instead of having Excel work them.”

-Patrick Harbin