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DSU PBL Competes at National Leadership Conference 

            Students from Dakota State University’s Phi Beta Lambda (PBL) competed at the National Leadership Conference (NLC) in Nashville, TN June 24^th – June 27^th.  Attending were Andrea Lindberg (President), Brandon Nase (Past Parliamentarian), Jeff Swett (Past Vice President), Mike Perrion (Reporter/Historian), and Stephanie Sherburne (Past President). 

            PBL is the college level organization of Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA).  Its mission is to bring business and education together in a positive working relationship through innovative leadership and career development programs.  PBL helps prepare students for careers in business and business-related fields.  PBL is organized on local, state, and national levels, providing students many opportunities to be active.   

            In order to compete at the NLC, students first must qualify by competing at the State Leadership Conference (SLC) which was held in Pierre, SD in early April.  Students competing on the state level must finish in first and second place to compete at the NLC.  At the national level the competitive event categories range from accounting to finance, computers to economics, and business decision-making to impromptu speaking.  The students from DSU earned 23 awards at the national competition.

            The NLC in Nashville included an opening session, two days of workshops, competitive events, voting sessions, and an awards ceremony.  Coach Ken Carter, who inspired the big screen hit Coach Carter, was the keynote speaker at the opening session.  The workshop topics included leadership, communication, career development, information technology, finance, and business issues such as entrepreneurship, bargaining and negotiation skills, ethics, attitudes, etiquette, and employee benefits.    

            The competitive event tests are one hour in length and consist of 100 questions.  Some events also require interviews, submitting materials, or speaking.  There is an Open Events session which does not require prequalification at the state level.  Therefore, anyone may participate in this session.  Students have four hours to take as many tests as they would like during that time.  Each test has a time limit of 45 minutes and consists of 75 questions. 

            At the NLC, the following students competed in pre-qualified events:  Andrea Lindberg – Accounting for Professionals and Business Law, Brandon Nase – C++ Programming and Computer Concepts, Jeff Swett – Economic Concepts and Human Resource Management, Mike Perrion – Future Business Teacher and Visual Basic Programming, and Stephanie Sherburne – Future Business Teacher.            

            The following students also competed in the Open Events session:  Andrea Lindberg – Financial Services, Forensic Accounting, Leadership, and Organizational Behavior & Management; Brandon Nase – Computer Operating Systems, Cyber Security, and HTML; Jeff Swett – Cyber Security, Financial Services, and Leadership. 

            DSU took home four of the five awards that were awarded at NCL to South Dakota PBL members.  Awards are given to the top ten finishers in pre-qualified events and the top three finishers in open events.  At the Awards Ceremony, the following students received awards:  Andrea Lindberg – 3^rd Financial Services (Open Event), Brandon Nase – 8^th C++ Programming and 9^th Computer Concepts, and Jeff Swett – 3^rd Human Resource Management.