FAQs

Future Business Leaders of America is a nonprofit educational association of students preparing for careers in business and business-related fields.

In 1937 the FBLA concept was developed by Dr. Hamden L. Forkner of Columbia University. The first high school chapter was chartered in 1942 in Johnson City, Tennessee. Washington became a state chapter in 1965.

There are currently over 240,000 active members who participate in more than 13,000 chartered chapters in 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rice, the Virgin Islands, U.S. Territories, Canada, and Department of Defense Schools worldwide. Read about the history of Washington State FBLA.

FBLA’s Goals are to:

• Develop and encourage competent, aggressive business leadership
• Strengthen the confidence of students in themselves and their work
• Create more interest in and understanding of American business enterprise
• Encourage members in the development of individual projects which contribute to the improvement of home, business and community
• Develop character, prepare for useful citizenship, and foster patriotism
• Encourage and practice efficient money management
• Encourage scholarship and promote school loyalty
• Assist students in establishing occupational goals
• Facilitate the transition from school to work

To achieve these goals: FBLA holds conferences and seminars for members and advisers including the State Business Leadership Conference, regional conferences, and a training program for state and local officers and their advisers.

FBLA’s Awards of Excellence Program recognizes and rewards excellence in business- and career-related skills. By participating in the competitive events at the state and national levels, students gain practical experience in goal setting, planning, and plan implementation.

FBLA has produced several practical and informative publications for its membership, including Tomorrow's Business Leader, PBL Business Leader, FBLA Advisers' Hotline, The Professional Edge, and The Middle Level Advisers' Hotline.

Participating in a variety of partnership programs, such as fundraisers, educational programs, and scholarships, members can gain recognition, experience, and cash awards.

• Orientation to business careers
• Leadership skills
• Improved career skills
• Recognition at conferences
• Travel opportunities
• Scholarship opportunities
• Resumé enhancement
• Meet new people
• Network with business professionals
• Establish occupational goals
• Get firsthand experience with business people
• Practice effective money management
• Learn the value of community responsibility
• Get on-the-job training in a wide range of business activities, including planning, fundraising, conducting meetings, and managing finances, time, and resources

Teachers who serve as chapter advisers receive materials on student activities, workshops, and competitions that encourage interest, develop business skills, and increase knowledge of the business world. These materials can be integrated into the classroom curriculum to enrich teaching methods.

FBLA also provides teachers with opportunities for:

• Professional development through meetings with fellow educators, conference workshops, and seminars.
• Networking and interaction with the local business community.
• Visibility and recognition through chapter participation in school and community activities.
• Enhancement of the quality of education for your students.

The business curriculum—and the school as a whole—can be enriched by this co-curricular activity.

Schools benefit from:

• Increased interest and enrollment in business programs
• Positive publicity created by being involved in newsworthy events
• Opportunities for building partnerships and gaining connections with local businesses
• Encourages student involvement in local civic and business activities

Chapters set up programs of work modified to best meet the needs of their memberships, schools, and communities. At the beginning of the school year the Chapter Management Handbook is mailed, and it provides information on current programs, special activities, and deadlines to help chapters develop their programs of work, which can include:

• Professional activities that enhance student skills or knowledge of the business world. Project examples include inviting local business people as guest speakers, trips to local businesses, and preparing for competitive events.
• Service activities that help people in need. In addition to national partnerships with the March of Dimes and other charities, chapters can get involved in local community projects and activities.
• Civic activities that promote civic pride and good citizenship. Chapters work with local chambers of commerce, business people, and business organizations.
• Fundraising activities that finance chapter projects and conference trips. Chapters can take part in national fundraising programs or develop local fundraisers of their own.

1. Contact the state office (360-753-5666) to make sure they are aware that you are becoming a new chapter and this will insure that you’ll be receiving state-level information during the chartering process.
2. Go to the National website: www.fbla-pbl.org and complete the form to receive a Chapter Organization Packet.
3. A chapter adviser from the business department must be identified.
4. If necessary, submit a proposal to your school administrator for establishing an FBLA or PBL chapter.
5. Hold an orientation meeting.
6. Elect officers.
7. Create and vote on chapter bylaws.
8. Collect dues.
9. After receiving the application from the National Office, complete it, and send it along with your payment to the National Office as instructed.
10. Develop a program of work outlining proposed chapter activities for the year.
11. Conduct a new officer installation ceremony upon receipt of your charter.

Unfortunately, it would be impossible to run this conference without advisers’ help with events. Many advisers bring an extra chaperone or parent to monitor student activity while the adviser is working. This applies to small school and large school advisers. If you don’t have an extra chaperone, require your students to be in workshop sessions or competitions during the time you’re working. Anyway, there are many more one-teacher business departments than those with multiple teachers in this organization.

We don’t have enough teachers and chaperones to allow this to happen. Everyone would have multiple assignments to fill all the necessary roles, and that would increase the “no shows” for timekeepers and receptionists.

The general rule is that if you had winners placing in the top five at the regional level, those winners have an automatic berth at state. If you do NOT have a regional winner in any event, you may enter one person in that event. For example, if Linda and Jeff both placed in the top five in Business Procedures at regionals, they may both enter that event at state. If your chapter had NO top five regional winners in Business Procedures, you may enter one person from your chapter in that event. Consult your current Competitive Event Guidelines for specific event rules.

Yes. There is a rule that if a student won first place or competed at nationals in any event, he/she may not enter that event again. There’s no rule about winning at regionals except for those events that only grades 7-10 may compete in (event guidelines will specify).

No. You still have the right to enter your team. Substitute another chapter member who is registered for conference.

Yes. The presentation room will have a screen in it. Any other equipment necessary for your presentation must be supplied by the chapter.

Same answer as the previous question – a screen will be in the presentation room; all other equipment is your responsibility.

You will be notified by the state office after projects have been pre-judged, approximately two weeks after they have been received in the state office.

Immediately after the registration deadline, the site addresses are sent electronically to the judges by the state office. Judges could go into those sites THAT day if they wish to do so. If changes are made to the sites after that day, they might not be judged. If your site is connected to a server that is down, it probably will not be judged. In all fairness, be sure to make sure your server is up and running when you send in your registration for this event.

These events provide real-life experiences for students, and performing to an audience is preparation for the real world. Observers are always invited to watch performance events, unless they are themselves performers. The only exception is in the preliminary rounds of the project reports, because no observers are allowed to observe those presentations. To rule out observers is to provide a disservice to the performers and observers. Everyone deserves an equal opportunity for success. At the national level, there will be observers only in finals, not in preliminaries. The state performances are an excellent preparation for national competition.

The national office has a guide that has sample questions for all events. It's called "FBLA Competitive Events Study Guide" and is available through the Marketplace. To order the complete guide, go to www.fbla-pbl.org/marketplace to order.

We’re constantly exploring technology solutions to getting lists out as soon as they’re available. Much of the challenge is time – starting and finishing on time, getting judges’ results, inputting scores.

There will be a sign-in process in Conference Headquarters for family members. Family members may attend opening and closing sessions and the event(s) in which their family member performs. To protect our members, guests may not be admitted to workshops or other activities.

We depend on local chapter advisers to take care of their own students and themselves. We hope advisers know our dress code and enforce it. If certain attire is in doubt, please “rule it out!” The simplest answer to your students when they comment on someone else’s inappropriate attire is “Thank YOU for looking so good! Let’s make sure we’re an example for others.” Advisers make excellent role models. Review the dress code.

Let’s face it – FBLA dress code is conservative. Remember that this is a business organization, not school. Our business is FBLA, and we have a “company policy” concerning appropriate attire, as do many companies. It’s true that a person’s attire affects his or her professional image. We will continue to look the best of all student organizations and reap the rewards of excellent scholarship and employment opportunities.

Professional members are corporate CEOs, grocery store clerks, dentists, airline flight attendants, moms and dads, teachers, superintendents, and any other adults who want to contribute to the premier association for students with career interests in business. They are a wonderful resource to us as we’re looking for someone to bring career information to our students, help with classes, chaperone activities, judge events, provide job shadowing opportunities or real jobs, and help with our finances.

When professional memberships arrive in the State Office, we use the preferences they mark on the membership form to find judges, presenters, and volunteers for regional and state conferences.

Many times people in our communities want to become involved in education and don’t really know how to make an impact or volunteer their expertise. FBLA professional membership is one way for them to feel they are contributing to the education of young people. FBLA listens to them, values their contributions, and satisfies a need for them also.

A professional membership in Washington State FBLA is $30. Of that $30, $15 is sent to the national office, Washington State FBLA retains $8, and $7 is placed in a scholarship fund for an FBLA member who will be awarded a $1,000 scholarship at State Business Leadership Conference (SBLC) in April. Learn more about Professional Division Memebership.

Local chapters who have professional members may qualify for awards at SBLC.

Our refund policy for cancellations allows refunds until 3 weeks from opening day of conference. After that time, all arrangements for conference facilities, meeting room rentals, gifts for attendees and advisers, general session productions, keynote speakers, workshop presenters, and other expenses have been made, based on the number of registrations received. We still have to pay for them if you cancel. Your commitment to attend determines our commitment to the hotels and convention centers. Hotels usually have a 72- or 48-hour refund policy, determined by each hotel. If you do not cancel, however, and do not show up for your reservation, you will be charged for one night. Legally, they can hold you to that.

Note CARDS may be used in both events. Paper notes not on cards may NOT be used.

Our refund policy for cancellations allows refunds until three weeks from opening day of conference. After that time, all arrangements for conference facilities, meeting room rentals, gifts for attendees and advisers, general session productions, keynote speakers, workshop presenters, and other expenses have been made, based on the number of registrations received. We still have to pay for them if you cancel. Your commitment to attend determines our commitment to the hotels and convention centers.

Hotels usually have a 72- or 48-hour refund policy, determined by each hotel. If you do not cancel, however, and do not show up for your reservation, you will be charged for one night. Legally, they can hold you to that.

Actually, if you compare our registration fee to some of the other student organization conference fees, ours is relatively inexpensive. We base our registration fee on costs to us, which include convention center and hotel rental fees, keynoter and workshop presenters, entertainment (dances, inflatable games, etc.), contracts, rentals of equipment/lights/sound, shuttle service, gifts for attendees/judges/presenters, and multimedia, to mention a few. Also, part of the conference fee pays for the operating costs of the state office when there is no income from dues or fees during the months of June – October.

Consult the calendar on this Web site.

We can accept changes to competitors up to two weeks before the conference. If you are making a change, the person you are entering in the event must be a paid, registered member who is already attending conference. Absolutely no changes can be made within two weeks of conference or on-site at the conference. Written test competitors must be changed prior to taking their test. The state office will notify chapters of testing dates.

Dues are $16 all year long and payable to FBLA-PBL, Inc. To compete in the winter regional conferences, dues payment must be received in the National Office by the date given by each region. Students who do not compete in winter conferences must have dues paid to the National Office by February 15 if they want to compete at the State Business Leadership Conference.

• Chapter Management Handbook, "National Programs," policy of the US Dept. of Education stating that leadership through FBLA (or another Career and Technical Student Organization-CTSO) is "integral" to the curriculum.
• RCW 28C.04.100
• WAC 490-48A-010
• OSPI Standards for Career and Technical Education Programs

No. That rule was changed several years ago. They have to have an interest in a career in business.

Go to the FBLA-PBL website – www.fbla-pbl.org – and navigate to The MarketPlace.

Washington State FBLA also has logo items for sale in the office. Call us (360.753.5666) if you’re interested in discounted polos, CD holders, zipper portfolios, denim shirts, and several other “leftovers” from conferences. We’ll swing you a deal!