More than 1,600 of America’s best and brightest college students traveled to the Windy City to Step Up to the Challenge as they showcased their talents as future business leaders and vied for the opportunity to win more than $81,000 in cash awards.
Future Business Leaders of America-Phi Beta Lambda (FBLA-PBL), held its PBL National Leadership Conference in Chicago on June 24–27. Participants from across the United States attended this exciting conference to enhance their business skills, expand their networks, and participate in more than 55 business and business-related competitive events.
EKU students Rachel Keys (Taylorsville), Alex Martin (Richmond), and Daniel Bevins, Wendi Smith, and Dalton Stanley (all from Pikeville) received national recognition at the PBL Awards of Excellence Program on June 27. Their honors included:
- 2nd Place in Business Presentation - Dalton Stanley and Daniel Bevins
- 4th Place in Help Desk - Rachel Keys
- 9th Place in Business Decision Making - Dalton Stanley and Daniel Bevins
- 10th Place in Desktop Publishing - Wendi Smith
“These students have done a phenomenal job with PBL this year,” remarked faculty advisor Dr. Marcel Robles from the EKU Department of Management, Marketing, and International Business. “Their leadership, teamwork, and initiative have been incredible.”
After competing and winning several first place awards at the state level during the Spring Leadership Conference at the University of Pikeville, these students were eligible to move on to the national level competition. Eastern Kentucky University was one of the best-performing schools in the state of Kentucky during the National Leadership Conference this year – a true accomplishment, considering EKU’s Phi Beta Lambda Chapter was only just re-established within the 2014-2015 school year after a two-year hiatus!
The awards were part of a comprehensive national competitive events program sponsored by FBLA-PBL that recognizes and rewards excellence in a broad range of business and career-related areas. For many students, the competitive events are the capstone activity of their academic careers. In addition to the competitions, students immersed themselves in educational workshops, visited an information-packed exhibit hall, attended motivational keynotes on a broad range of business topics, and toured the beautiful city of Chicago.
About FBLA-PBL, Inc.
Future Business Leaders of America-Phi Beta Lambda, Inc., the largest and oldest student business organization, is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) education association with a quarter million members and advisers in over 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. The association is headquartered in Reston, Virginia, just outside of Washington, D.C. For more information, visit fbla-pbl.org.
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