Supermarket Management Class Celebrates 20 Years

This week, the IGA Coca-Cola Institute has been hosting the Supermarket Management Class at the Coca-Cola Headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia. It's a special week, as this is the 20th anniversary of the class, which taught alumni from 57 countries.

The weeklong program teaches grocery store managers to foster a culture that delivers efficiency, great service, and innovation through group activities and lessons from over 20 industry experts. Along with pre- and post-class webinars and online courses, the program serves as the premier annual learning event for supermarket owners, managers, and supervisors.

"Twenty years ago, the Supermarket Management Class began preparing industry leaders," Institute President and CEO Dr. Paulo Goelzer reflected. "A weeklong program that we developed has assisted independent retailers in achieving success by transforming managers into more effective leaders."

The class hops on the bus for the store visits around the Atlanta area on Sunday.

The program started on Sunday, April 14 with a group visit to grocery stores in the Atlanta area, and has continued throughout the week with sessions from industry experts including:

• Paulo Goelzer, Ph.D | IGA Coca-Cola Institute President & CEO
• John Ross | IGA President & CEO
• Todd R. Hale | ToddHale, LLC Principal
• Bill Alford | ILH Group President
• John Abbene | BRdata President
• Jeff Hunter | Alliance Retail Group Senior Vice President of Merchandising
• Dr. Doris Martin | Millikin University Business Professor & Georgia Gwinnett College Business Tutor
• Ana Velázquez | IGA Coca-Cola Institute Learning Solutions Director
• Kyle Sumner | Millennium Digital Technologies Principal Solutions Engineer
• Jonathan Tan | Ratio Institute Co-founder
• Jim Wisner | Wisner Marketing Founder
• Doon Wintz | LearnNatural CEO
• Rick Findlay | International Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin VP Food Service
• Dr. TJ Niño | Professor
• Robert Graybill | FMS President & CEO
• Jon Hauptman | Price Dimensions President
• Bob Buonomano | Bob's Windham IGA Owner
• Melissa Carrick | AR Marketing Senior Social Media Manager
• Leigh Engelbrecht | ADvay Sales & Marketing Analytics President

On Friday, the program will wrap up with presentations from Joe Himmelheber and Goelzer.

Follow along with updates from the Institute on LinkedIn, and find a recap of the week coming soon in The IGA Minute.