YORK, Pa. — The Penn State York Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) Collegiate group is closing out 2024 with multiple accomplishments under its belt. In its sixth year as a student organization at York, FBLA has nearly 30 members with a network of 115 alumni, won 106 state awards and 66 national awards, and raised approximately $30,000 to attend the organization’s national leadership conference in Dallas, Texas, in 2025.

FBLA is one of the largest student organizations in the country, with a goal of empowering young students and business leaders to be the best version of themselves, both personally and professionally. According to Polina Bolotnikova, fourth-year student and outgoing president, the FBLA chapter at York provides students with skills they can take with them in the real world, regardless of their field.

“We’re providing students with skills that are going to be useful not only in a business setting but any major or profession,” she said. “We also focus on soft skills, camaraderie, networking and having a good time.”

FBLA meets once a month in the Graham Center to go over the executive board’s contributions to the chapter and provide members with an activity that will help them develop soft skills or leadership skills. The organization also holds events outside of its monthly chapter meetings, including mock interviews.

“At our last meeting, we did virtual reality public speaking training. We’ve also done resume critiques and mock interviews to help prepare students for the business world,” said Olivia Giltner, incoming president of FBLA. “We’ve also done collaborations with the Graham Center to do networking events, and we’ve helped prepare our members for national competitions through the events we hold.”

FBLA’s most recent competition took place in June 2024 in Orlando, Florida, where 12 York students won 16 national awards for their presentations on case studies about finances, ethics, marketing, entrepreneurship, management and more.

“In five years, we have 106 state awards and 66 national placements. We’re well known in the state and nationally for being one of the top 10 performing chapters,” said Megan Lorenz, assistant teaching professor of business and FBLA faculty advisor. “We’ve actually received an award for being one of the top 10 most outstanding chapters in the country over the last two years.”

One of the chapter’s greatest accomplishments of 2024, though, was raising nearly $30,000 that helped FBLA members travel to Dallas for the competition in May. This was all raised through fundraisers, which included a Berkey Creamery ice cream fundraiser; the Student Fee Allocation, as well as the Student Affairs and Academic Affairs departments; creating proposals for various grants, including Penn State York’s Women’s Philanthropic Network (WPN) and the Graham Center; and speaking with donors.

“WPN is the largest women’s giving circle in Penn State. They’re the ones who really started funding our chapter in the infancy stages. We really wouldn’t have gotten started as a chapter if it wasn’t for them,” Lorenz said.

“As we gained momentum as a club and our students started to succeed, our whole campus came together to try to help us, including our Student Government Association and the Graham Center. But with WPN, we give them a lot of credit for helping support us in the infancy stages because if it wasn’t for them, we wouldn’t be here.”

The members of FBLA want York students to know that anyone, regardless of major or year, should join the club.

“If you’re a student at Penn State York, of any major or any year, you should join FBLA. Come to Room 006 on Thursdays in the Graham Center or find Professor Lorenz. No matter what major you’re in, no matter if you’re transitioning to University Park, no matter what year you are, come find us and take advantage of this great opportunity,” said Bolotnikova.

“They will have something extraordinary to put on their resume that would differentiate them from their peers, and they will make great friends and find a community within FBLA.”