Cornerstone Postgraduate Students Win ACG Cup Competition
On March 22, Cornerstone University’s Professional & Graduate Studies (PGS) students Brent Gravenhof and Liza Alvarez were awarded the prestigious ACG Cup title for 2016. The ACG West Michigan Cup competition is an undergraduate and MBA case study competition hosted by the Association for Corporate Growth (ACG) Western Michigan. Cornerstone’s team, led by Chad Wight, special appointment faculty of business, competed against teams from Grand Valley State University, Western Michigan University, Davenport University, Michigan State University and additional higher education institutions.
Wight said, “There are few organizations I know as professional and supportive as ACG to the local university. We are very proud to be partnered with them, and I am very proud to have worked with this year’s CU PGS team. Brent and Liza represented us well.”
In the first round, teams analyzed a complex business case and gave a twenty-minute presentation on their recommendations for the case in competition with other students from their institution. This round took place one month prior to the final round. The teams were given access to the case two weeks prior to the competition and had only a short time to prepare their presentation.
The final round of the competition, held on Feb. 20, was an intercollegiate competition in which the highest scoring teams from each school competed for the top prize. Once again, each team was allowed twenty minutes to present their recommendations for a specific case study to the judges. The judges then determined the winning team and ranked the other finalists in order.
During the Outstanding Growth Awards ceremony, Cornerstone University PGS was announced and recognized as the winning MBA team. The team received $6,000 and each team member received a free ACG Western Michigan membership for one year. With over 120 participating students and over 60 regional judges, the team was proud, yet humbled by their experience.
Team member Brent Gravenhof said, “The ACG cup was a great learning opportunity! It was definitely one of the most challenging exercises of my MBA experience thus far. It was a pleasure to have the opportunity to interact with some of the best and brightest minds in the region that are engaged in the field of finance. The judges and organizers take the cup seriously and put forth a lot of effort to maximize the value of the program. It was very beneficial for me personally to gain confidence in the direction of my career.”
