Marsha Yeagley
marketing/MIS department senior lecturer, 308.865.8345
UNK– Three members of the University of Nebraska at Kearney chapter of Phi Beta Lambda recently won awards at the national Future Business Leaders of America-Phi Beta Lambda conference in Anaheim, Calif.
Future Business Leaders of America-Phi Beta Lambda (FBLA-PBL), the largest and oldest student business organization, recently held their annual conference at the Hilton Anaheim. Conference participants from around the country and the world were in attendance for the conference, and the FBLA-PBL Institute for Leaders.
UNK students Brett Brase of Aurora, Derek Lemburg of Grand Island and Ross Pierce of Verdigre earned national awards at the conference. Brase earned seventh place in Financial Services and tenth place in the Free Enterprise Report; Lemburg received $100 for winning third place in Marketing Concepts; and Pierce won seventh place in Accounting Principles. In addition, the UNK Phi Beta Lambda chapter won eighth place in the Nebraska local chapter annual business report.
The awards are part of a comprehensive competitive events program sponsored by FBLA-PBL. Individuals, state teams and local chapters were encouraged to compete in any of the more than 50 different events representing a wide range of activities, and the business and leadership development focus of FBLA-PBL.
According to Dr. Janet Lear, faculty adviser for the UNK chapter, the winners of these highly competitive and prestigious awards were selected from among FBLA-PBL’s membership of 250,000 students and advisers, and represent some of the best and brightest of today’s youth.
Many Nebraska PBL members and advisers received national recognition at the PBL Awards of Excellence program, putting the state among the top in terms of earning individual and chapter honors. The Nebraska state chapter of Phi Beta Lambda won first place for the largest number of CMAP participants, first place for the largest professional division membership, first place for having the largest state membership and second place in recruitment of local chapters. Nationally, the state chapter took first place in the state chapter annual business report.
Nebraska Phi Beta Lambda state adviser Ted Harshbarger of Peru State College, noted, “It was a very exciting conference for our members and advisers as we topped last year’s performance which had been the best ever previously for the state. It certainly appears Nebraska PBL was among the top three states in terms of top 10 placings, which is a testament to the quality education received in this state.”
Future Business Leaders of America-Phi Beta Lambda is a nonprofit education association with a quarter million members and advisers in 12,000 chartered 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. The association is headquartered in Reston, Va., just outside Washington, D.C. For more information, visit www.fbla-pbl.org or www.ne-pbl.org.
