Thank you to everyone that attended Salty’s Shrimp Boil & Shanties on the Roof event to benefit the College’s Environmental Science Program. College faculty, staff, students, and community members gathered on the rooftop of the Campus Center on February 9 to learn more about the program and to show their support for student success.
During the evening, guests listened to inspiring stories from students and learned about the vision of the program. A lowcountry boil was catered by Catch 228, along with live music performed by singer/ songwriter Levi Moore. One lucky raffle winner also took home a 12-foot long mounted Marlin. Assistant Professor of Environmental Science Dr. James Deemy said the event was all they had hoped for.
“We enjoyed bringing the community, our students, and families together,” he said. “The students did a fantastic job representing the Environmental Sciences Program and telling their ‘shanties’ or stories of their experiences.”
The Environmental Science Program takes advantage of the College being located along Georgia’s beautiful coast. Faculty members of the program are dedicated to developing the next generation of environmental scientists and leaders through field-based learning opportunities and experiential learning.
“We hope to continue increasing the number of Mariners that we welcome into and graduate from the Environmental Science Program each semester. We also hope to continue placing our graduates in a widening variety of career pathways,” Deemy said.
The sponsors for Salty’s Shrimp Boil & Shanties on the Roof included Wakefield Agricultural Carbon, LLC., Chemours, Goodwyn Mills Cawood, LLC., Hodges, Harbin, Newberry & Tribble, Inc., Catch 228 Inc., the Discovery Center for Mariners and Environmental Sciences, and Sam Ghioto Studio.
If you would like to support the Environmental Science program, click here.
and show the employees their managers appreciate their hard work, but it did the trick.
“We had an idea,” Henshaw said. “And it was spurred by our own desire to engage with our employees and to recognize them, and reward them to build better teams within our businesses.”
The Henshaw Companies at the time included Jimmy John’s, Smoothie King, Fuse Frozen Co., Ironside Coastal Georgia Café and Island Sound, among others. They eventually honed in on an algorithm to create a score to gauge employee performance and recognize their accomplishments. The spreadsheet wound up being successful, Henshaw said.
“The first thing we learned was that it worked,” he said.
The employers had a clear and tangible way to monitor employee performance and the employees knew when they were excelling and were rewarded for it. That is when Henshaw knew it was time to seize the opportunity to add a new business to The Henshaw Companies’ portfolio, albeit one in an entirely new arena tech.
employee performance and satisfaction by providing a score to employees that measures their performance and provides feedback for growth.
The quick growth to 60 local clients caught the attention of Eagle Venture Fund and a group of angel investors who recently provided funding to take GAGE to the next level.
Henshaw is now leading the first-ever Golden Isles-based tech-startup, something he never imagined.
“I never sought out a career in tech,” he said. “I was more or less forced into this world.”
Which meant there was, and still is, plenty to learn.
“There is never a moment where you stop,” Henshaw said.
“The product always evolves. The world around the product evolves. It’s a train that never stops.”
But going from a spreadsheet to a working mobile app required the help of experts in the tech field. For that, Henshaw partnered with Whiteboard, a digital platforms, activation and branding company out of Chattanooga,
Photos by Chris Moncus Photography
Tennessee. Getting Whiteboard as a partner was a major ’s development, he said.
re an incredible company. One of their core principles is to do good for the world,” Henshaw said. They are sought after and turn down projects all the time, so we had to get them in the door first.”
Once in the door, GAGE began to come together. That included a little help from his alma mater at College of Coastal Georgia, where he attended after serving in the U.S. Marine Corps.
As GAGE was being developed, some of the college’s marketing students were exposed to how market research startup works,” CCGA President Michelle Johnston said. “And it’s not the first time that Justin has reached back to his alma mater and engaged our faculty and students with his many successful business ventures.”
The college became an early adopter.
GAGE enhances engagement between supervisors and our student employees, and it gives students immediate and regular feedback that helps them grow and improve,” Johnston said. “The ongoing communication and feedback loop helps build a sense of belonging.”
A couple of those students who helped with market research now work for GAGE, Darwyn Ramirez and Antonia Bahir, who serve as marketing and support coordinators. The GAGE team is rounded out by Sara Baker, vice president of sales, and the Chattanooga-based design and technology team of Michael Anthony Turner, head of design, and Jeffrey Cole, chief product and technology officer.
Together they will be building the new, more robust version of GAGE for a broader audience.
Feedback from clients like Kelly Hanrahan, who owns Stretch Zone on St. Simons Island, has already helped GAGE develop and will continue to do so in future iterations.
Within its first year of existence, the mobile app went from zero to 60 business accounts and generated significant revenue, which proved that it works.
The first version of the app was developed as a business-to-business application, but the end goal is to engage and support the end-users—the employees of the companies who partner with Gage. Employers can use the app to build a stronger, more motivated workforce and employees can use it to grow and excel in their careers.
Read more about Justin Henshaw and GAGE here.
Some of the first organizations that signed up for the app include Marshland Credit Union and the College of Coastal Georgia, both which Henshaw said are “significant as they are organizations paving the way for innovation in both the banking industry and higher education.”
Student employees at College of Coastal Georgia use the GAGE app.
Dear Alumni,
As a 2020 graduate of Coastal Georgia, I am humbled with the privilege to serve as Chair of the Coastal Georgia Alumni Association. I began my journey at Coastal Georgia in 2016 as a student and started a separate path as a staff member in the Office of Admissions in December 2022. Upon the announcement from the Office of Advancement to begin
forming an Alumni Association, I knew immediately that I wanted to be involved and help in this pursuit. Mariner Pride is very prevalent in my everyday work as an Admissions Counselor through representing an institution that I am very fond of. In addition, this pride grows daily as I am positively consumed by Mariner Pride in my pursuit of bringing students to this institution through sharing my own experiences and thoughts about Coastal Georgia.
Like many of my fellow alum, Mariner Pride is a result of the countless hours spent in the classrooms and residence halls on campus, through engagement in extra-curriculars, clubs, and organizations. All of those factors will create and strengthen the bond of a student to the institution they attended. More importantly, the commonality of achieving a diploma from the College of Coastal Georgia is what brings the alumni community together at its core.
My participation in the Alumni Association is solely to help the institution grow and thrive by encouraging and generating strong alumni support. Through engaging with other alums, community members, and current faculty and staff, I plan to create a community and network of individuals seeking out ways to help the College of Coastal Georgia achieve its strategic plan and goals.
There are many benefits to engaging in the Association, from networking with other alumni to fostering mentorship opportunities for current students. By getting involved in the Alumni Association, you are not only helping the college succeed in its goals, but you are also helping current students accomplish their goal of obtaining a degree from the College of Coastal Georgia.
Please reach out and share your information with us so we can keep you informed on events and activities around the Association. Lastly, join us for our next event on April 5th, in conjunction with First Friday in Downtown Brunswick. More information to follow. Go Mariners!
Landon Sarazine ‘20
Kyra Gabriel ’19 has joined King & Prince Seafood as Associate Marketing Manager, reporting to Mike Tigani, director of marketing. Kyra will be developing and implementing strategic marketing plans to build customer engagement and drive business performance across our product lines.
Kyra brings to K&P diverse marketing skills and experience, most recently with Kerfkore Company in Brunswick, GA, where she held a number of marketing roles. She earned a bachelor’s degree in marketing from the College of Coastal Georgia.
Originally from Chicago, Kyra came to Brunswick to play on the
College’s volleyball team and now lives in the Old Town Historic District with her husband, Gabe, and two dogs, Sadie and Koda. They enjoy the beach, cooking and remodeling projects in their very old home.
Students in Dr. Montford’s “Introduction to Public History” class are still seeking former students, faculty, and staff to participate in an oral history interview project to document the history of the College.
If you would like to share your memories of the College of Coastal Georgia/Brunswick Junior College/Brunswick College/Coastal Georgia Community College, and are available for a recorded interview session, please click the link to provide us with your contact information.
https://forms.office.com/r/kX2pESgGYh
If you have any questions, contact Dr. Hector Montford at hmontford@ccga.edu or 912-280-7742.
“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”
- Nelson Mandela
WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH KICKOFF, 11 A.M.—1 P.M., MOBILE CART
Check out our calendar for the full schedule of Women’s History Month events.
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5
SPRING BREAK MAR. 4-8 CLASSES CANCELLED, CAMPUS OPEN
W. GOLF VS. PFEIFFER UNIVERSITY ROUND 1 AT OCEAN RIDGE PLANDATION (LION’S PAW) MAR. 5 WILL BE ROUND 2
M. TENNIS VS. MARIAN UNIVERSITY, IN INDIANA, 1:30 P.M.—4:30 P.M.
W. TENNIS VS. MARIAN UNIVERSITY, IN INDIANA, 1:30 P.M.—4:30 P.M.
THE CURRENT CONVERSATIONS: JOURNALISM IS ESSENTIAL TO DEMOCRACY, 6 P.M.—7 P.M. AT THE SOUTHEAST CONFERENCE CENTER
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MARINER SOFTBALL VS. AVE MARIA UNIVERSITY, AT BRUNSWICK HIGH, 11 A.M. AND 1 P.M.
ALSO PLAYING ON MAR. 17 AT 11 A.M.
25-26
M. GOLF VS. UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH CAROLINA, IN BEAUFORT ROUND 1 AT OLDFIELD GOLF CLUB MAR. 26 WILL BE ROUND 2
APRIL 5 ALUMNI EVENT. MORE INFORMATION TO BE ANNOUNCED.
Check out the College of Coastal Georgia Calendar for all events.
We would love to stay in touch with you. Please tell us about yourself and what you’ve been up to after college. Update your contact information here. Questions? Contact alumni@ccga.edu.
