FBLA Spring Newsletter 2019- Awards Edition

Spring Newsletter 2019/ Awards Edition

By Owen Hirshorn, Chief Marketing Officer / March 18, 2019

With top-three finishes in 30 different events at this year’s Rhode Island State Leadership Conference, East Greenwich FBLA put up a dominant performance when the stakes were highest. In fact, at the March 5 award ceremony, it was announced that each of the chapter’s 52 competitors placed in the the top five in an event. Fifteen (15) of these competitors also took home first place in the event.

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Seen above is the full East Greenwich competition roster. The 36 members with an asterisk (*) next to their name either placed first or second in one or more of their events, qualifying them for the 2019 National Leadership Conference in San Antonio, Texas.

In other news from the State Leadership Conference, Jessica Caterson and Jason Page were re-elected State Vice President and State Treasurer, respectively. Next year will be the second year in office for both officers.

A number of FBLA members also competed in the Global Economic Symposium at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston on February 15. In this tri-state competition, student-teams from Massachusetts, New York, and Rhode Island developed a research-based, viable economic solution to an emerging issue of global and local consequence. The keynote speaker was RI General Treasurer Seth Magaziner, who posed for a picture with the East Greenwich delegation afterward.

The competition was divided into two parts: a formal poster session and five-minute presentation followed by Q&A with panels of judges comprised of national civic leaders, industry executives, and academicians from leading universities. Seen below are the winners from East Greenwich in each category.

Sophomore Jack Gecawich was also honored at the Global Economic Symposium by the Foundation President for the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association (SIFMA). Jack earned first place among Rhode Island high-school competitors in their Fall 2018 national essay competition. Entrants analyzed the financial position and market share of an entrepreneur-founded, publicly-traded company and provided the current CEO with advice on accessing the capital markets to fund a recommended business investment. Jack directed his analysis and recommendations to eBay’s founder Pierre Omidyar.

Finally, on March 6, Jack and three other members of East Greenwich FBLA— Zing Gee, Nick Sanzi, and Suraj Sait—testified at the Rhode Island State House in support of House Bill 5033 designed to ensure all RI high school students have access to a personal finance course. This bill and its sister legislation in the Senate (S0112) would require all public high schools to offer a personal finance course beginning in the 2019-2020 school year and would require graduates to demonstrate proficiency in such a course in the 2021-2022 school year. Video starts at :30.