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Community Education

GSW hosts Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition, awards top student ventures

  • 25 March 2026

AMERICUS, Ga. (March 25, 2026) – The College of Business and Computing (COBAC) at Georgia Southwestern State University (GSW) recently hosted its first-ever Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition, showcasing student-driven business ideas and entrepreneurial talent.

The event opened with remarks from GSW President Michelle Johnston, Ph.D., and COBAC Dean Gaynor Cheokas, D.B.A, who welcomed participants and emphasized the importance of innovation and leadership in today’s business landscape.

Students presented their ventures to a panel of judges, and two teams were awarded top honors, each receiving $1,000 in prize funding. La Ruta Café earned the Best Pitch award, while FitFlow was recognized for Best Innovation.

Both winning teams will advance to represent GSW at the inaugural University System of Georgia Innovation and Entrepreneurship Pitch Competition on April 6–7 at Kennesaw State University’s Marietta campus. The statewide competition offers participants the opportunity to compete for $25,000 in cash prizes, the USG trophy, mentorship from industry experts, and access to leading institutional accelerators. 

Participants and business concepts included:

  • Graham Harrod (Leslie, Ga.) - MVRC (The Most Valuable Running Center): A performance-focused training center for runners in Augusta, designed to combine expert coaching with a strong sense of community.
  • Katrina Holmes (Manchester, Ga.) - The Excellence Academy: An academic program aimed at strengthening early literacy and foundational math skills for K–2 students through small-group instruction, while also preparing future educators with hands-on classroom experience.
  • Macy Taylor (Ochlocknee, Ga.) – FitFlow: A first-of-its-kind wheelchair seat cover featuring built-in cooling technology to enhance comfort and usability.
  • Cedric McNabb (Norcross, Ga.) and Elijah Coleman (Americus, Ga.) – Echt: A real-time AI mobile app designed to protect users from identity theft, fraud, and misuse of personal information.
  • Milced Velasquez (Vienna, Ga.) and Emely Jimenez (Leslie, Ga.) - La Ruta Café: A mobile specialty coffee camper offering hand-crafted beverages and a culturally inspired coffee experience.
  • Katana Glover (Leesburg, Ga.) – DeafRescue: A wearable device that alerts individuals who are hard of hearing to emergency situations and enables first responders to access interpreter services via QR code, while automatically notifying emergency contacts with GPS location.

Judges for the competition included Qaijuan Willis, director of Downtown Americus Main Street and interim tourism director for the City of Americus; Hailey Hobbs, marketing and sales coordinator at TCI Powder Coatings in Americus; and Kim Horne Folmar, director of sales and marketing at Horne Pecan Company and an entrepreneur in agribusiness.

The event was made possible through the support of the GSW Foundation, the High-Impact Approach to Integrative Learning (HAIL) initiative, the Marketing and Management Association (MMA), and the GSW College of Business and Computing.

L-R: Assistant Professor Toney Duckworth-Chambless, D.B.A., Cedrick Nabb, Elijah Coleman, Katrina Holmes, Katana Glover, Graham Harrod, Macy Taylor, Mily Velasquez, Emily Jimenez, and Senior Lecturer Becca Jones