Reinhardt Students, Faculty Earn Honors at Leadership Conference

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Georgia Phi Beta Lambda (PBL) recently hosted the PBL State Leadership Conference in Atlanta at the Westin Atlanta North at Perimeter hotel.

Over 280 students from colleges and universities across the state participated in professional development seminars and competitions.

During the competitive process, students were able to showcase professional skills and knowledge in their areas of expertise to earn the chance to represent Georgia at the National Leadership Conference in Chicago in June.

Individual and team competitions range from Accounting and Hospitality Management to Sports Management and Marketing and Mobile Application Development to Public Speaking. Additionally, chapters can compete in annual business report and community service project. The top five winners in each of the over forty business-based categories were called to the stage during the conference awards banquet.

The following Reinhardt students placed in the competitions:

• Alex Bryant, a 2015 alumnus from Canton placed first in both impromptu speaking and in future business executive;
• Jamieson Palmer, a senior political science major from Rome placed fourth in both sales presentation and in business presentation;
• Kayla Diehl, a senior communication major from Woodstock placed third in sales presentation;
• Brent Johnson, a freshman from Dallas placed fifth in both impromptu speaking and in public speaking.

Some professional development tests were offered for advisers:

• Dr. John Yelvington, assistant professor economics and Reinhardt’s PBL advisor, placed fourth in both global affairs and in business calculations (no calculator was allowed).
• Reinhardt PBL Advisors Cindy Moss, business lecturer, and Dr. Katherine Hyatt, associate professor of business, were fulfilling time keeper and administrator roles for a competition at the time of the adviser tests and were unable to participate.

In addition to competition awards, winners of service and chapter awards were recognized during the three-day event. Several PBL chapters across the state achieved the Blue, Bronze, Silver, Gold, or Platinum Seal Awards of Merit. Awards of Merit are based on several criteria, including community service, professional development, and organizational growth.

Reinhardt was awarded second place in Division III for the largest PBL chapter.

College chapters were also recognized for donations to the March of Dimes, PBL’s state and national service project, and the Georgia PBL Foundation. In total, over $6,600 was donated to March of Dimes and $3,400 to the Georgia PBL Foundation.

Phi Beta Lambda is the collegiate arm of Future Business Leaders of America-Phi Beta Lambda (FBLA-PBL). This nonprofit education association boasts over a quarter million student members across the nation. The mission of PBL is to help students prepare for careers in business and business-related fields.

Qualifying Georgia PBL students will now travel to the 2015 PBL National Leadership Conference in Chicago, Illinois. Over 4,000 students and advisers from across the country are expected to attend the four-day event in June. At the 2014 National Leadership Conference in Nashville, Tenn., Georgia PBL members set records for achieving 45 awards, seven of which were for first place.