Business Club Places in State BPA Competition

Kalamazoo Valley’s Business Club had great success at their first ever State Business Professionals of America Competition on February 10 at Davenport University in Grand Rapids. Business Professionals of America is a national career and technical student organization consisting of 25 state associations and more than 50,000 members from over 2,700 chapters. The organization serves students who are currently, or were previously enrolled, in a business education program at a secondary or postsecondary institution.

The group held their own competing against six other colleges at the competition, many of which are four-year colleges. They competed against Alma College, Bay College/LSSU Regional Center Escanaba, Central Michigan University, Davenport University, Montcalm Community College, and Northwood University. The students competed in accounting, entrepreneurship, interview skills, marketing, information technology, spreadsheets, word processing, project management, and financial math.

Seven students from the Business Club represented Kalamazoo Valley at the State BPA competition including Michele Alexander, Tim Kanaan, Riley Marvin, Susan Nicholson, Tiffany Rich, Kyle Robinson, and Tetyana Tymchuk. They were supported by advisors Kathy Kerstetter, Mary Morehouse, Alison Nord, Steve Walman, and Chris Gearig. To prepare, the students reviewed previous competitions and did mock interviews with help from Mary McConnell in the Career Services department.

Of the seven Business Club students who attended, they proudly had two students place in the competition. Susan Nicholson took First Place in Payroll and Second Place in Advanced Accounting. Tetyana Tymchuk took second place in Payroll. Both students have the opportunity to compete at the National level this May in Dallas. In addition, Riley Marvin and Tim Kanaan are also eligible to compete at Nationals.

“Competing does push you outside of your comfort zone, but the reward is more self-confidence. It also helps you gauge how much you're retaining from your classes. It's well worth the effort!” says Susan Nicholson, who left the competition with two awards. “The competition was an amazing opportunity for me! I encourage any serious business students to consider joining Business Club and take part in these BPA competitions” said Riley Marvin.

The Kalamazoo Valley Business Club was created this past year and it’s their first year attending the State BPA competition. They are very proud of their success and hope that it encourages other students to get involved in the Business Club as well.