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Stanly Community College’s (SCC) Phi Beta Lambda (PBL) was named a state “Gold Seal Chapter,” won First Place for its Local Chapter Annual Business Report, and had its nominee named the state’s Business Person of the Year when awards were announced recently.

The group also posted First Place awards in Parliamentary Procedure, Business Decision Making, and Information Management.

Following the cancellation of the onsite State Leadership Conference, chapters participated in virtual competitive events to both recognize the year’s achievements and to designate North Carolina’s entries in national competition.

Online election of state officers resulted in the selection of Jennifer Nelson from Barton College as state president and Allison Taylor Smith from Stanly Community College as state secretary.

Lee Pickler was selected as PBL’s North Carolina Business Person of the Year for 2020. Pickler is a former PBL member and the President and Workforce Solutions Expert of ScanOnline, an Enterprise Wireless and Mobility Solutions company based in Locust.

A previous “SCC Alumnus of the Year Award” recipient, he has continued being involved at SCC by providing internships, speaking at student meetings and serving on the College’s Foundation Board of Directors, this year concluding a two-year term as chairman.

SCC was one of seven chapters to receive the state Legacy Leadership Award for completing a designated list of local, state, and national goals and activities for the year. The award includes a scholarship for national conference participation presented by the NCPBL Professional Division-Foundation, Inc.

Rick Gardner, an SCC graduate, was re-elected as president of that group’s Board of Directors.

Lydia Miller received First Place in Information Management. She was also inducted into “Who’s Who in NCPBL” for 2020.

Members of the Business Decision Making team are Esha Vang, Jailia Vang and Kimberly Gomez. The event is based on a written test and an oral presentation giving the solution to a business-related problem.

Members of the Parliamentary Procedure team are Giselle Chavez, Monica Chang, Jailia Vang, Kimberly Gomez and Alexis Johnson. That event is based on a written test and an oral presentation of a sample business meeting. With each state allowed two entries in events, Austin Miller also qualified for national competition, winning Second Place in Computer Concepts.

“Top 8” state placements included Allison Smith, Fifth in Accounting Principles and Fourth in Statistical Analysis; Giselle Chavez, Sixth in Entrepreneurship; Lydia Miller, Sixth in Marketing Concepts; Kuldeep Patel, Fourth in Networking Concepts; Monica Chang, Sixth in Organizational Behavior & Leadership; Vyktoria Iverson, Third in Personal Finance; and Stormy Douglas, Fourth in Retail Management.

Other First Place awards were won by students representing Wake Technical Community College, Belmont Abbey College, Asheville-Buncombe Community College, Durham Community College, Barton College, UNC-Charlotte, Appalachian State University, Western Carolina University, East Carolina University, Rowan-Cabarrus Community College, Meredith College and Catawba College.

Monica Chang, chapter president, and Giselle Chavez edited the Annual Report, a document detailing the chapter’s program of work for the year and its participation in state and national activities. This is the third consecutive year for SCC to win the event, with the 2018 report going on to win First Place and last year’s receiving Second Place nationally.

“Despite the unusual conclusion to the year, the SCC members worked hard to complete the activities that led to the ‘Gold Seal’ designation,” commented Dan Hazlett. “Tammi McIlwaine, the chapter co-adviser, and I appreciate the SCC staff members and the local business leaders who supported the chapter this year. We are, of course, disappointed the state winners cannot travel to Salt Lake City for the business tours and national networking that can be done at an onsite conference, but we’re glad the organization was able to put together the virtual opportunity since they had prepared for the competitions.”