Business students serve as judges at BPA Regional Leadership Conference competition

The inaugural first semester of the new Finlandia University Business Professionals of America (BPA) has been a busy one. In addition to all of the tasks involved in launching a new organization, the club still found time to host guest speakers and make a visit to Somero Enterprises.

The spring semester also is off on a high note as BPA members Kyle Niemi, a senior in marketing, and Tyler Borkadi, a senior majoring in sports management, served as competition judges at the BPA Regional Leadership Conference for high school students on January 5^th at Bay College in Escanaba. Over 325 students from 11 schools across the Upper Peninsula of Michigan attended the conference and competed in various business skill areas. Niemi and Borkadi judged the teams in the Presentation Management competition.

For Borkadi, it was especially interesting as he was active in BPA as a student at Escanaba High School. “It felt great to be a judge in my hometown,” he said. “It was awesome to be a part of something so positive within the community. I’m a big believer in BPA, and I encourage the students of Finlandia to get involved and become a part of something special.”

According to Niemi, “during my time at Finlandia I have had to give numerous presentations in numerous business courses. A few things I have learned from my own presentations are the importance of presenting credible facts and information from reliable sources, developing strong written and verbal communication skills, and presenting information to other people in a way they can understand. Overall, being a judge at this conference was a great opportunity. I also found that I was judging myself to see if I knew all the skills that go into a solid business presentation.”

The busy spring continues as the chapter is organizing a BPA Day at Finlandia University on Wednesday, February 14 at the Finnish American Heritage Center. This event is part of National BPA Week, February 12-16.