Morrisville State College shines at Future Business Leaders of America/Phi Beta Lambda National Leadership Conference

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MORRISVILLE, NY—Morrisville State College took home several accolades from the Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA)/Phi Beta Lambda (PBL) National Leadership Conference, which was held this summer in Chicago, Ill. 

Matthew Reape, an information technology management graduate, from Watertown, placed third in Networking Concepts and fourth in Cyber Security. 

Also participating in the event were: Taylor McDowell, an information technology, application software development graduate, from Eaton, who competed in Computer Applications; and Alexia Palmer, a technology management major, from New Woodstock, who competed in Marketing Concepts. 

Reape, McDowell, and Palmer moved on to the national competition following top finishes at the state level competition, held at MSC in March. Students attended the national conference through a grant from the Sheila Johnson Institute. 

More than 2,500 students competed from across the US, and Virgin Islands in business and business-related contests throughout the national conference. The hands-on challenges placed participants in real-life business situations which enabled them to showcase their talents as future business leaders, test their business knowledge and skills, sharpen their core business skills, and network. 

Morrisville State College was a recipient of both the Phi Beta Lambda (PBL) Hollis and Kitty Guy Gold Seal Award Of Merit, for the second year in a row, recognizing it as an outstanding local chapter that has actively participated in projects and programs identified with the goals of FBLA-PBL, and the Seven-Up Program based on increased member¬ship from the previous year’s total by at least seven members. 

Additionally, Jim Clark, vice-president of the MSC- PBL, was recognized with the Who’s Who in PBL-New York, Award. Clark is a technology management student, from Georgetown, who spearheaded MSC-PBL members’ efforts to raise money to help educate students in Guatemala.

FBLA-PBL is a nonprofit education association with a quarter million members and advisers in more than 6,500 active middle school, high school, and college chapters worldwide. Its mission is to bring business and education together in a positive working relationship through innovative leadership and career development programs.

Morrisville State College’s curricula are enriched with applied learning and pave the way for opportunity at both the Morrisville and Norwich campuses. An action-oriented, interactive learning lab, the college is a national leader in technology and has been lauded for its exemplary, innovative and effective community service programs. 

In addition to being named to the 2014 President’s Higher Community Education Service Honor Roll, the college was recognized by U.S. News and World Report as an institution in the top tier of the Best Regional Colleges list and ranked second among regional colleges nationwide for outperforming its anticipated graduation rate.