MORRISVILLE, NY—Morrisville State College students showcased their talents as future business leaders during the New York State Future Business Leaders of America-Phi Beta Lambda (FBLA-PBL) Conference hosted recently at the college.
Participants in the conference were able to sharpen their core business skills, expand their networks, and partake in business and business-related competitive events.
Following the NYS Leadership Conference, PBL chapters throughout the state held the online competitive events, where students competed in more than 30 categories. Five students from MSC were finalists in seven competitive events and are eligible to compete at the FBLA-PBL National Leadership Conference in Chicago, Ill., this summer:
- Taylor McDowell – Computer Applications – 2nd place. McDowell is an information technology: application software development student from Eaton.
- Esther Obasi – Statistical Analysis – 2nd place. Obasi is an accounting major from Geneva, Switzerland.
- Anthony Ostuni – Entrepreneurship Concepts – 2nd place, Management Concepts – 3rd place. Ostuni is an entrepreneurship, small business management major from Liverpool.
- Alexia Palmer – Management Concepts – 2nd place, Marketing Concepts – 2nd place. Palmer is an information technology—electronic marketing and publishing major from New Woodstock.
- Matthew Reape – Networking Concepts – 1st place , Cyber Security – 2nd place. Reape is an information technology management major from Watertown.
The FBLA-PBL National Awards Program recognizes and rewards excellence in a broad range of business and career-related areas. At the state leadership conferences, students compete in events testing their business knowledge and skills. For each of these events, the top NYS winners are eligible to compete at the national leadership conference.
In addition to all of their achievements, the MSC-PBL chapter has been involved in numerous leadership and career development programs, and has been active volunteering, participating in fundraising activities, and performing community service.
Among their efforts, members raised funds for the March of Dimes, participated and volunteered at the Madison County Winter Fest, and volunteered as judges for the SKILLS USA contest held at MSC.
For their global community service endeavor, MSC-PBL members raised more than $800 selling hand-crafted YUDA Bands to help educate students in Guatemala, who made these bracelets using leather materials from their homeland. As a result of this project, Jim Clark, vice-president of the MSC- PBL, was recognized as an Outstanding Leader and was invited as a participant to teach leadership skills to Guatemalan students. Clark is a technology management, general management student from Georgetown.
FBLA-PBL is a nonprofit education association with a quarter million members and advisers in more than 6,500 active middle school, high school, and college chapters worldwide. Its mission is to bring business and education together in a positive working relationship through innovative leadership and career development programs.
Morrisville State College’s curricula are enriched with applied learning and pave the way for opportunity at both the Morrisville and Norwich campuses. An action-oriented, interactive learning lab, the college is a national leader in technology and has been lauded for its exemplary, innovative and effective community service programs.
In addition to being named to the 2014 President’s Higher Community Education Service Honor Roll, the college was recognized by U.S. News and World Report as an institution in the top tier of the Best Regional Colleges list and ranked second among regional colleges nationwide for outperforming its anticipated graduation rate.