3DE 9^th grade students participated in their fourth challenge on February 4, 2020 with Sage/Sage Foundation, located at 1715 North Brown Road in Lawrenceville, GA. Students were welcomed by Terence Cummings, VP of Sales, where he shared practical advice on having a growth mindset and surrounding yourself with different people from all backgrounds and different attributes. The students also had the opportunity to volunteer their time by making blankets for veterans.

Sage helps drive today’s business builders with a new generation of solutions to manage everything from money to people. Like the business builders they serve, Sage began as a startup. Their founder, David Goldman, wanted to automate accounting processes in his own business. He worked with a team of Newcastle University students to develop software to make it happen—and realized other businesses could benefit from this too. In 1981, he formed Sage. In 1998, Sage came to North America with the acquisition of leading desktop accounting software, Peachtree. Today they work with millions of business builders in all types of industries around the world. Their 13,000 employees serve customers in 23 countries across Europe, Africa, Australia, Asia, Latin America, and North America.

Within Sage, the Sage Foundation was launched more than 3 years ago and provides time, resources, and technology, so non-profit organizations can help more people reach their true potential. Sage Foundation supports tens of thousands of people in their local communities through more than 1,000 charities. They are focused on building social equality, economic stability and entrepreneurial opportunities in communities. In particular, they take action to increase opportunities for fulfillment among young people, women, and military veterans to drive innovation, enhancing access to education, workforce development and exposure to entrepreneurship. All employees across their global markets are encouraged to dedicate five paid days a year to charities close to their hearts, through volunteer work and fundraising challenges.

The Challenge

3DE students were asked: How should the Sage Foundation communicate community opportunities to increase employee engagement?

The Solution

The winning team felt that rewards and prizes would be a great way to motivate employees to become involved in volunteering. They provided reasons such as improved results, boosted self-esteem, a sense of accomplishment, and engaging in friendly competition. Incentives included gift cards, free food, money, trophies, and bragging rights. The team also felt public gatherings would be a great way to gather people together and provide valuable information. This method would provide clear communication with messaging, and the verbal/face to face interaction assists with getting points across effectively. Finally, they developed a slogan, SAGE: Someone Always Giving Extra, that was catchy and everyone loved.

10th Grade

Competency: Critical & Analytical Thinking

Critical & Analytical Thinking uses logic, research, data and intuition to break down complex problems and determine feasible strategies. Individuals do not approach situations at face value, but instead observe, reflect, and evaluate to draw pragmatic conclusions.

Challenge Theme: Analyzing & Applying Data

Students learn how to collect, analyze and use data to make a business decision.

3DE 10^th grade students participated in their fourth challenge on February 5, 2020 with SPANX.

SPANX, Inc. is an American underwear maker founded in Atlanta, Georgia that focuses on shaping briefs and leggings. The company manufactures mainly pantyhose and other undergarments for women and, since 2010, produces male undergarments as well. SPANX specializes in foundation garments intended to make people appear thinner.

SPANX has had consistent year-over-year growth. Their products are sold in SPANX retail stores, high-end mega retailers, boutiques, and online. While overall company sales continue to increase, the company has seen accelerated growth from direct consumer purchases (end-user of the product), primarily online.

The leases on their current warehouses (one in Georgia and one in North Carolina) are about to expire. The Logistics and Transportation Team needed to determine where to locate the new warehouse(s) to best serve customer demands and manage cost. Selecting the right warehouse would significantly impact a company’s efficiency and profitability. Considerations included being able to better meet customer demand, minimized cost to deliver, reduced expense of physical locations, and how to most efficiently leverage workforce.

SPANX warehouses are not automated due to the rate of customization and quality assurance. The new location(s) must have a competitive labor market, but one where the supply of workers outpaces the demand. They also wanted to make sure that wherever the new warehouse(s) are located, orders would arrive at their destination within 2 days or less. Finally, the warehouse itself would have approximately 400,000 square feet and could be divided into two warehouses. While SPANX is leaning towards leasing a warehouse, owning is still a consideration.

The Challenge

Where should SPANX open its new warehouse?

The Solution

The winning team determined that East meets West—Houston, TX and Charleston, SC—would be the best locations for SPANX warehouses. Their reasons included that both are dominant regions in the Northeast and Southern regions, they have main international airports and ports, and they have various interstates and highways, which would accommodate the 2-day shipping or less delivery requirement. Both provide inexpensive real estate options, would boost employment opportunities for both cities, and limit risk in case of emergency, meaning if there is a natural disaster at one location, the other warehouse could fulfill orders. Finally, the team developed a TikTok, which is an app that creates personalized music videos, to demonstrate their solution.