SCC PBL receives state recognition, prepares for national competition
Published 4:35 pm Thursday, June 20, 2019
- Stanly Community College Chapter members Britney Pouch of Albemarle, left, Monica Chang of Albemarle and Giselle Chavez of Albemarle show off state awards that are taking them to San Antonio, Texas, at the end of June for Phi Beta Lambda’s National Leadership Conference. In addition to individual competition in events, the SCC group expects to be named a national “Gold Seal Chapter” and hopes its state-winning Annual Business Report receives national recognition. (Contributed)
Contributed
The Stanly Community College (SCC) Phi Beta Lambda (PBL) chapter received state Gold Seal Chapter designation recently and is now in line to achieve similar recognition at the business students’ national conference this month in San Antonio, Texas.
Members from community colleges and universities of the student organization met at the Charlotte Hilton University Place for the 65th Annual State Leadership Conference. The presiding student officers for the conference included Vice President Giselle Chavez from SCC.
The Gold Seal Chapter award was presented by National Future Business Leaders of America-Phi Beta Lambda, Inc. President and CEO Jean Buckley, a special guest at the conference to celebrate her retirement.
In addition to the Gold Seal Chapter award, the SCC chapter received first place for its Local Chapter Annual Business Report, a document of the group’s 2018-19 local activities and involvement in state and national programs and conferences. Editing the report was Monica Chang, president of the SCC chapter. The group’s 2018 annual report won at the state level and went on to win first place nationally.
Also preparing for national competition in the Future Business Executive event is Britney Pouch, a May SCC graduate and last year’s PBL chapter president.
Pouch will do a written test on business principles and an interview centered on her potential as a business leader.
Gilbert Umberger, left, a former SCC employee now at Durham Technical Community College, and Martha Cranford, an Albemarle resident who is an accounting instructor at Rowan-Cabarrus Community College in Salisbury, received honors at the recent North Carolina Phi Beta Lambda annual conference in Charlotte. Umberger was presented with the Professional Division-Foundation, Inc., Distinguished Service Award. Cranford was announced as the NCPBL Outstanding Chapter Adviser for 2019. She will be introduced on stage at the group’s national conference. Dan Hazlett is pictured on the right.
(Contributed
The three students also comprise one of two state teams that will compete in the Human Resources Management event. They will take a collaborative test on HR principles followed by an HR case study presentation before a panel of three business judges.
In addition to general sessions, a leadership development series of seminars, and the competitive events, the group’s annual business meeting included the election of officers. Delegates selected Chang as historian.
Among the eight presenters for the leadership development seminars were Charlotte Maness, an Albemarle human resources consultant and the 2013 NCPBL Business Person of the Year recipient, and Alaina Finney, agribusiness program head at SCC.
Maness spoke on time management and creating personal time, and Finney highlighted the latest trends in agriculture as part of the state’s economic growth.
Chang and Chavez were among seven students from across the state inducted into “Who’s Who in NCPBL” for 2019.
To go along with the conference theme, “Create, Lead, Inspire,” recipients of the recognition spoke at a general session on a person who had inspired them in their education and leadership training.
The Stanly chapter was one of nine to receive the NCPBL Legacy Leadership Award and received a $200 contribution from the state PBL Professional Division-Foundation, Inc., for completing a list of local, state and national goals for the year.
SCC also received recognition in the following events: Fifth Place, Hospitality Management — Robyn Shepherd, Britney Pouch and Monica Chang, team members; Eighth Place, Job Interview — Akira Odere; Third Place, Cyber Security — Austin Miller; Eighth Place, Personal Finance — Giselle Chavez; Third Place, Marketing Concepts, as well as Fourth Place, Sales Presentation — Lydia Miller.
“SCC is very proud of these students and their accomplishments in the Phi Beta Lambda program this year,” said Faculty Adviser Dan Hazlett, who accompanied the students to the conference. “We were especially pleased to be named a Gold Seal Chapter and to receive the award from Ms. Buckley as she completes 22 years at the FBLA-PBL National Center in Washington. Of course, we are also very appreciative of the support the chapter receives each year from both the community business leaders and the SCC staff and administration.”
Traveling with the SCC PBL members to the national conference will be Amy Ray, an SCC graduate and PBL chapter president who is now a senior at UNC-Charlotte. Ray was elected last year as national PBL treasurer and is a candidate for national president at the upcoming meeting.
Also receiving recognition at the national conference will be Martha Cranford, an Albemarle resident and accounting instructor at Rowan-Cabarrus Community College. Cranford was named North Carolina’s Outstanding Local Chapter Adviser at the state conference and will be recognized on stage during the opening session in San Antonio.
The SCC PBL chapter has had members qualify for national competition in all but two of the 44 years since being chartered in 1974. Phi Beta Lambda is the collegiate level of Future Business Leaders of America. Membership is open to all students interested in developing skills in business, leadership and professionalism.
