RADFORD – The Radford University chapter of Phi Beta Lambda (PBL) recently participated in the State Leadership Conference in Richmond, receiving two first place awards and two second place awards. An RU student was also named state president of the society.

Thirteen chapters involving more than 120 delegates, including representatives from Virginia Tech and the University of Virginia, competed in various events at the conference. “I am proud of the wonderful showing of our chapter members and their latest achievements,” said Prahlad Kasturi, professor of economics and faculty advisor to PBL. “RU students in PBL have been a winning team each year they have participated in the State Leadership Conference.”

The winners of the 2009 State Leadership Conference competition are as follows:

• Business Decision Making: Second place, Kara Rogers and Andrew Pierce
• Computer Concepts: First place, Bretny Khamphavong
• Networking Concepts: Second place, Bretny Khamphavong
• Website Development: First place, Kara Rogers

Each winner now qualifies to compete at the National Leadership Conference, which will be held in June in Anaheim, Calif. RU’s College of Business and Economics (COBE) will sponsor Kara Rogers and Bretny Khamphavong at the national conference. Rogers was named the State President of PBL for the 2009-10 academic year and will be responsible for creating and implementing statewide PBL activities.

(In the photo, from left: Kara Rogers, Andrew Pierce, Bretny Khamphavong, and Christina Ju.

PBL, a postsecondary division of Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA), is the largest professional business association in the world, with more than 11,000 college student members and 3,000 business professionals, alumni and educators. Exclusive membership and career recognition programs are designed for each division of FBLA-PBL to provide additional personal and chapter development opportunities.

The RU chapter of PBL is housed within the College of Business and Economics (COBE), which is accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (AACSB International). To learn more about the RU chapter, visit http://www.radford.edu/pbl. To learn more about COBE, visit http://cobe-web.asp.radford.edu/ or call (540) 831-5187.