Atlanta is a city in constant motion. 

It spins around the Earth at 862 miles per hour — a fun fact for physics fans — but even that seems slow compared to the city’s capacity for business. Home to 17 Fortune 500 companies and the world’s busiest airport, Atlanta is a top metro for business professionals and startup ecosystems while also an international hub of technology design, implementation and innovation. 

There’s much to learn in a place with so much to do that not keeping pace leaves you behind. Top companies remain relevant and sharp by investing in people — and there is no better investment than education.

“It’s great for people to be constantly growing and learning — it’s incredibly important and sets people up to be leaders in the future,” says Michele Lillard, the senior director of capability at Coca-Cola North America. “I believe we do this well at Coke, and there is always room for us to continue broadening our perspective to ensure we stay attuned to the broader macro environment, in addition to our business focus. The program we created is an opportunity to take an abstract concept, interpret it, reassess it and relearn what’s happening externally. It’s been amazing.”

Lillard’s course, CrossTrainU, is a customized program developed with the University of Georgia Executive Education (EE) office and aims to build cross-functional capabilities with Coke employees across departments. 

“We are intentional in listening to the challenges companies are having with corporate strategy and leadership development and finding ways to create programs to meet their needs,” says Linda Read, director of UGA Executive Education. “We have the expertise to build new and specific programs to aid them in solving their problems and setting them on a path for long-term growth and success.”

CrossTrainU, now in its third cohort at Atlanta’s Terry Executive Education Center (TEEC), has seen 90 Coca-Cola employees exploring a general management mindset while discussing a variety of topics and functions affecting the company. 

Earlier this year, TEEC hosted the third weekly session of the Sustainable Development Excellence (SDX) program, a training effort EE created with pharmaceutical company Boehringer Ingelheim to help its employees become meaningful resources in sustainability. With sections on the environment, human and animal health and corporate critical thinking, the program paired engaged employees with seasoned UGA academics to promote better business practices. 

“Boehringer and UGA have a 40-year history of partnering on multiple initiatives, so the foundation was already there,” says Boehringer Director of Sustainability Michael Murphy. “Compared to other organizations, with UGA, the excitement about co-creating something like this and seeing its value is exciting — no one had ever asked for this before. So, the desire and the passion around partnerships stood out.”

EE serves a number of leading custom clients annually — in addition to its thriving open enrollment programs — where participants come from across the country for specialized training.

“The UGA Executive Education team has been great in helping us make strategic recommendations on where the industry is going,” Lillard says. “We’re feedback-driven, and they help us refine based on that feedback and are a strategic partner between us and the professors to make sure we’re constantly redefining what the modules can look like from an operational perspective. The team is incredible, and I know it always has it covered.”

Terry’s reputation — in addition to a strong UGA alumni presence in company leadership — was important for Veritiv Corporation choosing EE to facilitate its custom LEAD program. Focusing on a high-level overview of key business and leadership topics with a capstone project for 30 Veritiv employees per cohort, the program ensures the packaging solutions company equips its leaders with the lens to make sound business decisions.

“Communication is a key part of every executive role, and the LEAD program includes components aimed at refining verbal and written communication concisely,” says Nancy Whatley (BBA ’81), Veritiv’s senior director of global talent acquisition and learning. “It’s important to step out of your daily routines to see emerging trends and get the perspective from faculty who advise top organizations across different industries.”

The work done by Terry College faculty is key to EE’s custom programs. Marketing associate professor Neil Bendle was one of three Terry faculty who led lectures for the SDX program, presenting a sustainable business case study about a New York bakery. Bendle was impressed by the participation of Boehringer’s employees and the company’s push to make it a rigorous event.

“Boehringer wanted to make this a meaningful examination of sustainability — they were committed to that,” he says. “They didn’t want superficial sessions — they wanted to get deeper into certain topics. The people were enthusiastic.”

Meghan Skira, an associate professor in Terry’s John Munro Godfrey, Sr. Department of Economics, led an SDX lecture on health equity and disparities and agrees with Bendle on the participant’s contributions.

“They were very engaged. I wish we had even more time, given the high quality of the discussions,” Skira says. “They were very curious throughout, but especially when I showed them examples of health disparities in the United States — many found the statistics and figures eye-opening.”

Recent management education research shows custom EE programs created by business schools are more adept at responding to client needs than internal trainers, for-profit institutions and specialist consultants — a finding UGA’s Executive Education proves daily.

“What landed us with UGA was thinking about what we were trying to achieve at Coke and wanting Terry’s expertise and reputation to draw in our leaders by pulling professors in to teach them academic best practices,” Lillard says. “It’s thinking that can inspire, educate and raise the bar for our leaders.”