Webber PBL Shines at Nationals

Webber International University Students Place in 49 National Events

Babson Park, FL (08/23/2021) — Although faced with the cancelation of this year's face-to-face competition in Anaheim, CA due to the pandemic, Webber International University's (Webber) Phi Beta Lambda (PBL) shined during the organization's annual National Leadership Conference (NLC) held (virtually due to pandemic concerns) in June 2021.

Having competed at District and State level competitions throughout the 2020-21 academic school year to earn their spots at the nationals, 12 Webber students competed against a total of 704 business students representing 27 states. The Webber team earned a total of 49 individual, team, and state awards and helped the State of Florida place second in this national competition of business skills and acumen.

Webber's Paola Rivera placed 1st in the nation in the open event of E-Commerce. Other Webber students winning national competitions were: Paola Rivera (Business Ethics, 9th place); Lea Sophie Frieson, Isabelle Niehoff, & Isaiah Page (Digital Media, group, 2nd); Alycia Celia (Justice Administration, 4th); Dayne Ford & Chase Muniz (Networking Concepts, 6th & 7th place, respectively); Nicole Greene (Project Management, 2nd); Nicole Green, Isabelle Niehoff, & Cyrille de Hollain (Retail Management, 2nd, 4th, & 7th place, respectively); and Emelie Neidenmark (Sports Management, 3rd). Winning a national 3rd place winners in the FBLA-PBL Stock Market Game - an eight week simulation of global capital markets, including the stock and bond markets and mutual funds, in a live trading environment designed to increase students' financial literacy - were Seth Harper, Hayden Palino, Reynold Rey, Sean Whalen, and Allen Wolstenholme.

Said Webber's PBL advisor Dr. Joanne Muniz, "these competitive events are designed to help our students foster a greater awareness of real-life business scenarios they may face upon graduating and entering the work force. The conference also provides opportunities for attendees to increase their networking skills which can be utilized both academically and professionally." In addition to being the PBL advisor Muniz, who was recently promoted to Associate Professor, teaches bachelor's and master's level accounting courses at the Babson Park, Florida campus.

Said Dr. H. Keith Wade, the University's President and CEO (and a Six Sigma Black Belt), "this is the kind of thing that those of us who are obsessed with quality go crazy over. It's not subjective. It's not someone's opinion. It's not complex. It's remarkably simple: you put the brightest business students in the country in a room together, albeit virtually this year, you give them tests and other objective measures of competency in their disciplines, and you see who actually does have the best skills and the most knowledge. And coming home from nationals with 49 trophies, well I just couldn't be prouder of our team."

Established in 1927 by Roger Babson as the first college chartered under Florida's then new charitable and educational laws, and America's second school of business for women, Webber's campuses in Babson Park, FL (residential); Charleston, SC; Charlotte, NC; Columbia, SC; Laurinburg, NC (residential); Miami Lakes, FL (opening 2021); Pinehurst, NC; and West Palm Beach, FL (opening 2021) now educate men and women from over 50 different nations. Degrees are offered at the associates, bachelors, and masters level through traditional day, accelerated night and weekend, and entirely on-line formats. Joining Webber as a branch campus in 2011, St. Andrews University is an historically Presbyterian, comprehensive liberal arts school tracing its roots back to 1896. The University features highly qualified faculty, highly engaged staff, small class size, and a wide array of intercollegiate sports and other extracurricular activities. The University has been recognized as a US News and World Reports Best Regional Colleges: South, a Princeton Review Best Southeastern College, has earned Petersons' top marks for academics, value and community, and has been designated a Military Friendly School. The University is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges, and numerous programs have earned additional programmatic accreditations.