ABAC President Mike Vollmer said the offer from Coca-Cola was just too attractive to pass up.
"Our athletics program and our students stand to gain some tremendous benefits because of our relationship with Coca-Cola," Vollmer said. "I'm especially pleased that we were able to tie some scholarships into the agreement."
Vollmer said $20,000 in scholarship money will be available to ABAC students over the 10 years. The $2,000 per year scholarship will go to a high school senior in the Tifton Coca-Cola market who attends ABAC. The agreement also includes a $20,000 electronic message board that will benefit the entire community as well as ABAC students.
As a result of the agreement, Coca-Cola will be the exclusive soft drink, fruit drink, and isotonic drink vendor on the ABAC campus and at ABAC on the Square in Moultrie.
The ABAC Athletics Program will receive new equipment, including scoreboards, shot clocks, and a scoring table. This equipment will employ the latest technology, using LEDs in place of incandescent lamps for long-life benefits. Scoreboard cable and control consoles will also be included with the free-standing 12-foot basketball scoring table.
Alan Kramer, ABAC's Director of Athletics and Men's Tennis Coach, said the idea to form a partnership with Coca-Cola began with the need for new scoreboards and shot clocks in Gressette Gym for the men's and women's basketball programs.
"I started the search for corporate assistance with Coca-Cola because they are local," Kramer said. "Bruce Walden [Vending Account Manager] and Tim Ward [Cold Drink Supervisor] from Coca-Cola have wanted an exclusivity contract with ABAC for quite some time. We saw this as a win/win situation for both ABAC and Coca-Cola.
"President Vollmer and Floyd Wright [Vice President of Fiscal Affairs] took over from there. They combined ABAC's need for scoreboards and shot clocks and expanded our needs to those benefitting all students. The Student Government Association has wanted an electronic sign for some time now. As a result, an electronic sign was tied into the deal. Coca-Cola was also able to include some scholarships in the package."
Kramer said the ABAC/Coca-Cola partnership is just one example of the excitement generated by Vollmer to "take risks and think outside the box."
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