Dixie State Students Earn PBL National Competition Bids at Utah State Leadership Conference


ST. GEORGE – Nine Dixie State College of Utah business students took top honors at the annual Utah State PBL Leadership Conference held earlier month in Layton. Those nine students, along with three other runner-up finishers, earned the right to advance and compete at the 2011 PBL National Leadership Conference in Orlando, Fla., this June 22-26.

According to DSC PBL adviser and business adjunct faculty member Kent Brown, students were judged primarily on their ability to analyze and come up with impromptu solutions to case studies. Additionally there were several events that are strictly test based. The competition consists of over 30 different categories, and in order to qualify for nationals, students had to place in at least the top two of their respective categories (top three for a test) at the state level.

“I am proud of the way our students competed in their events,” said Brown, who also won the state PBL Adviser of the Year Award. “Their success is a good measuring stick of the quality of students and overall quality of education we have here at Dixie State.”

DSC’s first-place winners were junior James Rutledge (Kearns, Utah) in the Financial Services and Contemporary Sports Issues competition; and junior Cody Olsen (West Jordan, Utah), who won the Computer Concepts competition and teamed with sophomore Bryan Poulsen (Hurricane, Utah) and junior Daniel Gibson (Price, Utah) to win the Website Design event. In addition, junior Sam Reber (Santa Clara, Utah) teamed with sophomore Allison Stewart (Santa Clara, Utah) and freshman Brittany Williams (Pleasant Grove, Utah) to claim the top honor in the Small Business Management Plan event; while Reber joined freshman John Holfeltz (West Jordan, Utah) and sophomore Eli Baird (Salt Lake City, Utah) to win the Digital Video Production competition.

Rutledge also took second place honors in the Financial Analysis & Decision Making and Accounting for Professionals competition, as did Olsen in Cyber Security and Desktop Publishing in tandem with Poulsen. Sophomore Brock Walker (Santa Clara, Utah) earned a spot at the national conference with a runner-up showing in Retail Management. Walker also teamed with sophomore Brayden Anderson (Santa Clara, Utah) and freshman Nikki Bourne (Layton, Utah) for second place in Hospitality Management.

Additionally, DSC’s PBL Chapter placed third overall in the Community Service Project, Gold Seal Chapter Award of Merit, Local Chapter Annual Business Report, and Passport Program of Work events.

Future Business Leaders of America-Phi Beta Lambda is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) education association with a quarter million students preparing for careers in business and business-related fields.

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