Rowan-Cabarrus Community College business-minded students returned from a national conference in Chicago, Illinois, with numerous awards, including two first-place prizes, continuing the tradition of making the community and the college proud. These students from the College’s Phi Beta Lambda organization attended the conference with more than 1,600 of America’s best and brightest college students.

Letitia Dennis-Boger, one of the Rowan-Cabarrus students who attended the conference, placed first in the nation in Management Concepts and first in Organizational Behavior and Leadership. She competed against students from a number of major universities.

“This is the first time a Rowan-Cabarrus student achieved  top national honors in two competitive categories. Competitors in these events come from not only community colleges, but major universities as well,” said Martha Cranford, a Rowan-Cabarrus faculty member and the college’s Phi Beta Lambda chapter advisor.  “Some universities have more on-campus students than the entire population of Salisbury, and this speaks volumes about the knowledge and education provided at Rowan-Cabarrus.”

Rowan-Cabarrus students Katelyn Collier, Pam Grubb, Angela Lore, David Lore and Tricia Douglas competed, as well. Angela Lore was awarded third place in Computer Applications, David Lore received fifth place in Computer Concepts and seventh in Microeconomics, and Douglas earned eighth in Entrepreneurship Concepts.

David Lore is the current president of the Rowan-Cabarrus Community College Phi Beta Lambda chapter and presides at the monthly meeting of the group. Angela Lore serves as secretary of the local chapter and will be the North Carolina Phi Beta Lambda secretary for the 2015-2016 academic year. Katelyn Collier will serve as the 2015-2016 Rowan-Cabarrus chapter president.

“I am extremely proud of the accomplishments of these students and would encourage all Rowan-Cabarrus students to consider being part of the school’s Phi Beta Lambda organization and compete in state and national competitive events,” said Robin Turner, chair of the accounting program. “Competing against seniors from four-year universities and finishing in the national top ten is a major achievement by our students.”

The awards were part of a comprehensive national competitive events program sponsored by Future Business Leaders of America – Phi Beta Lambda  that recognizes and rewards excellence in a broad range of business and career-related areas. For many students, the competitive events are the capstone activity of their Rowan-Cabarrus Community College academic careers. In addition to the competitions, students immersed themselves in educational workshops, visited an information-packed exhibit hall, and attended motivational keynotes on a broad range of business topics.

“We are proud of each student that qualified in the North Carolina Phi Beta Lambda competition that went on to compete in Chicago. We congratulate them all, especially our double first-place winner. It’s quite an accomplishment,” said Cranford. “Not only did our students do well in competitions; they learned many social skills and interacted with a diverse group of students from across the U.S. and Puerto Rico. We have great students at Rowan-Cabarrus, and we look forward to bringing home many national awards in the future.”

To qualify for national competition, students must be rated first, second or third at the North Carolina Phi Beta Lambda level. The college brought home recognition from the state level earlier this year, including multiple first- and second-place awards. Students competed among many two-year community colleges as well as UNC Chapel Hill, East Carolina, Pfeiffer, University of Mount Olive, Barton College, Western Carolina University, Appalachian State, Campbell University and Lenior-Rhyne, among many others.

Award winners at the state level included: Pam Grubb, first place in Accounting Principles; Katelyn Collier, first place in Accounting for Professionals; David Lore, first place in Computer Concepts and second place in Microeconomics; Tricia Douglas, first place in Entrepreneur Concepts and third place in Retail Management; Letitia Dennis-Boger, first place in Management Concepts and second place in Organizational Behavior; Angela Lore, first place in Financial Concepts and second place in Computer Applications; Anthony Rossi, second place in Future Business Executive; Jennifer Suhocky, fourth place in Business Communications and fourth place in Personal Finance; Katelyn Collier, fourth place in Management Concepts, and Brandon Brock,  seventh place in Accounting Principles.

At the national Future Business Leaders of America-Phi Beta Lambda conference, participants from around the country were in attendance to sharpen their core business skills, expand their networks and participate in more than 55 business and business-related competitive events. Rowan-Cabarrus students competed against major universities represented with many years of Phi Beta Lambda national competitive experience.