Eight delegates from the Stanly Community College Phi Beta Lambda chapter will attend the business and leadership organization’s annual National Leadership Conference at the end of June at the Baltimore Harbor Hilton and Convention Center.
Highlighting the conference will be motivational speakers, workshops, the election of national officers and competitive events in areas of business, leadership, career planning and professionalism. Students from 19 North Carolina community colleges and universities won state competitions in April to qualify to represent the state at the national level.
North Carolina will receive the award for the largest state PBL membership and the largest state Professional Division membership.
Serving as presidents of both groups this year have been SCC graduates Katrina Sams and Rick Gardner, respectively. Sams is now a student at Western Carolina University and Mr. Gardner holds a management position with Ahold Delhaize at the Food Lion corporate offices in Salisbury.
The conference will begin with the announcement of the national “Gold Seal Chapters” for 2018. SCC was one of the chapters submitted for consideration.
SCC’s Giselle Chavez is among the officers who will preside at the North Carolina state meeting and then lead a workshop on leadership characteristics for success during the conference.
Amy Ray, a 2017 SCC graduate who is now an accounting major at UNC-Charlotte, is a candidate for national treasurer.
In competitive events, Stanly Community College students will represent North Carolina in Business Communication, Small Business Plan, Marketing Analysis and Decision Making and Parliamentary Procedure.
The chapter also won first place at the state level for its Chapter Annual Business Report. The top two reports from each state advance to the national competition.
The SCC delegates are Chapter President Britney Pouch, Chavez, Shiny Vang, Samantha Vang, Nicholas Lowder, Bradley Arrowood, Monica Chang and faculty adviser Dan Hazlett.
Also attending the conference will be Adviser Christopher Howard and members of the Pfeiffer University PBL chapter.
“The SCC chapter has had students win state events and participate at the national conference every year since 1979,” Hazlett commented, “and we are proud of this year’s chapter membership and its accomplishments, especially being named a state ‘Gold Seal Chapter’ and hopefully a national one. On behalf of the members, special appreciation goes to the SCC administration, faculty, and staff for their on-going support of PBL and other student organizations, as well as the many community business and civic leaders who have assisted with activities throughout the year. The students look forward to representing the College and Stanly County at the national level again this year.”