YORK, Pa. — Seven national awards came home to Penn State York when the York Phi Beta Lambda Chapter competed in the 2020 Future Business Leaders of America – Phi Beta Lambda (FBLA-PBLA) national conference in July. This is the second year in a row that Penn State York brought home national awards; last year they brought home six. The conference was held online due to COVID-19 but that did not stop the York students from competing and winning.
“It has been a long haul this competition season, with a virtual conference, virtual preparation/research, and long Zoom calls preparing for first and second rounds of competition,” said Megan Lorenz, PBL adviser and lecturer in business administration at Penn State York. “The students of Penn State York never cease to amaze me. We now have a winning streak!
"A special thanks to everyone for sharing in the excitement of Phi Beta Lambda and supporting this effort to ensure the students had the opportunity to compete nationally,” she said.
To compete at nationals, students had to place either first or second at the state competition. Sixteen Penn State York students competed at the state level and 10 moved on to compete at the national level, with eight students earning national awards in the top 10. In addition to individual awards, the York chapter also received one of the Most Outstanding Chapter of the Year Awards.
The National Leadership Event (NLE) featured 61 events at the college level. More than 10,000 participants from across the country convened online in July for the events geared to middle school, high school, and collegiate level students. The program leads students through competitive events, leadership sessions and networking and offers $145,000 in cash awards.
This is only the second year Penn State York has competed in the conference. Students, both this year and last year, credit their success to the encouragement, support, hard work and dedication from their adviser, Megan Lorenz.
Pennsylvania students earned four first place awards, with two of them going to students at Penn State York. In total, Penn State York earned seven awards.
National Award Winners for 2020
1st Place – Business Ethics
- Rochelle Jeanmenne and Jason Cardone
1st Place – Business Decision Making and Analysis
- Ron Cline and Joe Reba
2nd Place – Strategic Analysis and Decision Making
- Jiaqi Hu, Shixiang Yuan and Yuhan Sun
5th Place – Emerging Business Issues
- Yuhan Sun
6th Place – Management Analysis and Decision Making
- Rochelle Jeanmenne
7th Place – Organizational Behavior and Leadership
- Kyle Fullerton
10th Place – Marketing Concepts
- Kyle Fullerton