Rachel Martin, Co-pilot & “The Fix”

Friday, August 7th, two of my classmates, Erin and Stephen, along with Professor Chris Hanks, of Terry’s Entrepreneurship Program, boarded a 6-seater Beechcraft Baron plane at the Athens Ben Epps airport. As we walked into the airport lobby, there sat a baby-faced young man wearing an Air Ignition uniform. He was our pilot, Captain Clint. And though we’d met briefly before, knowing that I would soon be at his piloting mercy 14,000 feet in the air, his apparent youth struck me.

But Captain Clint’s calm and confident manner immediately put me at ease. So much at ease in fact, that I rode shotgun.

We landed in - actually, I don’t know where exactly we landed. But there we were met by Terry’s Entrepreneur-in-Residence Mark “Dill” Driscoll. Though his title and impressive career history may imply otherwise, Dill is just at home behind the wheel of a pickup truck as he is jetsetting to business meetings. In the white F1-50 with his signature cowboy hat placed dead center of the dash, we barreled down long country highways, took more than a few turns down roads of red Georgia clay, and finally made it to our destination – the Lentz house in Tifton, Georgia. Erected there was a red and black UGA tent under which sat a few camping chairs, very much the familiar scene of a tailgate party. There was a batting cage on the property, and the infield of a regulation size baseball diamond. It was obvious that to these folks, baseball was serious business. And that was precisely what we were there to discuss. Baseball and business.

In the batting cage were a number of people that I’d never met. Dill’s wife and business partner, Susan, was there along with her brother, Ricky McWhorter, the logistics and distribution manager for McWhorter Driscoll. Walter Lentz was the owner of the house and the inventor of the device that brought us all together – “The Fix.” Chris McAlpin, a native of Moultrie, Georgia and head scout for the California Angels, stood next to Jason and John Womack, two South Georgia brothers who’d partnered with Walter to start a business centered around the innovative product.

“The Fix” is a training device that will improve batting for baseball and softball players. The business that will launch it, called S.T.A.T.S. – Solutions Taking Athletes to Success – is envisioned to be an all-inclusive athlete training and education company with strong South Georgia ties and a dedication to superior quality and service.

In what capacity we students will ultimately be involved, it’s too soon to tell. Perhaps consultants, fodder for a case-study, or maybe even a business plan competition. But what I do know is that exciting things are on the horizon, both for S.T.A.T.S. and the Terry MBA program. Stay tuned.
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