Affirmed by Forbes Magazine as one of the Top 50 Most Entrepreneurial Colleges in the nation, Wittenberg inspires innovative thinking in its students, which will again be on display during the university's first-ever Tiger Tank event, Feb. 15.
Hosted by the department of business, Wittenberg’s version of the popular Shark Tank program begins at 7 p.m. at Founders inside the Benham-Pence Student Center. The event, the second in Wittenberg's new Enlight programming series, will feature three alumni judges.
Kyle Barger ’07, owner of Champion Trading Group; Wittenberg Board member Scott “Muddy” Watters ’87, owner and president of Flippin Water LLC; and Corey Myers ’04, strategic advisor for multiple organizations including Gamesmith Inc., Qwil, TradeLanes, and Conduit Ventures Inc., and an engineering recruiter for Tesla, will return to campus to hear the student's pitch their ideas in hopes of earning an internship or mentorship.
Barger earned his degree in business management with a minor in psychology. He was a member and captain of Wittenberg’s rugby team. Upon graduation, he spent 10 years trading commodities for the David J. Joseph Company, a division of Nucor Steel, based out of Cincinnati. A former professional rugby player and sponsored CrossFit athlete, Barger turned his love of sports into a business, opening a gym while living in St. Louis, Mo. Arch City Fitness was St. Louis’ No. 1-rated fitness studio for two years, but he gave it all up and returned home upon learning his father’s health was deteriorating. He then started the Champion Trading Group (CTG) in Columbus, a third-party purchasing and sales division for customers in the steel and metals recycling industry. He currently resides in Columbus with his wife, Lauren, and daughter, Charlie.
Watters, whose company assists with fundraising, equity and debt solutions, capital and finance restructuring, earned an MBA from Nova College in 1990. A member of Phi Gamma Delta fraternity, he was a standout on the football field earning the Golden Helmet Award, first-team All-American honors and the Lee Tressel Award. He was also a four-year letter winner, three-time All-OAC player, two-time MVP with records for “tackles in a season” and “tackles in a career” and was inducted into Wittenberg’s Athletics Hall of Honor in 2004. He and his wife, Beverly Moran Watters ’86, have three sons.
Myers, originally from Dayton, Ohio, studied biology and chemistry at Wittenberg. He currently resides in San Francisco, Calif., and is a strategic advisor for multiple organizations including Gamesmith Inc., Qwil, TradeLanes, and Conduit Ventures Inc.
Ideas to be presented by students include:
- Food Through Thought – a non-profit venture looking to alleviate food deserts with nutritious food delivered to the home.
- Hot Wheels Coffee Co. – a mobile coffee service.
- Bailey’s Capes – a cape that fits around various parts of a wheelchair with fun designs that keep those in the chair warm.
- Donate Magic – a website that donates money to the local organization of your choice when you shop online.
- GolfChalk – a new gadget for your golf bag to help you get a better grip on the club.
- Quick Cup – to-go drinks with infused (mixable) flavors built into the side walls of the cup.
- My Inner Warrior – a baseball non-profit foundation that is already running and donating money.
- Genetic Identification of Micro-organisms – A new way to detect viruses leading to the most effective treatment based on a person’s DNA.
