Two Georgia Northwestern Technical College (GNTC) students have placed first and second in their competitions at the recent Georgia Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) Collegiate State Leadership Conference in Atlanta.

Students from the 22 colleges in the Technical College System of Georgia gathered March 31 through April 2 for leadership development sessions, as well as performance-based and written competitions.

Both Nancy Johnson (Catoosa County Campus) and Brandon Wishon (Whitfield Murray Campus) placed in two competitions. Johnson, a resident of Tunnel Hill, placed first in Management Concepts and first in Small Business Management Plan; Wishon, a Dalton resident, placed second in Organizational Behavior & Leadership and fifth in Public Speaking.

“I tell students that you need to put yourselves in uncomfortable situations because that’s what the real world is going to expect of you,” said Mark Upton, GNTC’s Marketing Management program director and FBLA coordinator. He acknowledged that the state competition tested their abilities and helped them to prepare for the upcoming national competition.

All entries at the state competition who placed first, second or third qualify for competition at the National Leadership Conference, which will take place on June 22-25 in Atlanta.

“The added challenge of competing at a higher level at the nationals pushes the students to do their best and to raise their level of competitiveness,” he said.

Competing in these kinds of events adds to students’ learning, networking, people skills and dealing with stress; prospective employers like to see well-rounded students who are prepared for the workforce while students find the competitions fun and exciting, he explained.

“I am incredibly proud of these two students,” said Trish Wiggins, GNTC’s director of Student Engagement. “Not only did these students excel in their competitions, but they took every opportunity to network with fellow students from other colleges around the state.”

“Nancy and Brandon represented GNTC well, and I look forward to seeing what they accomplish at the National Competition,” Wiggins said.

Future Business Leaders of America is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) education association helping more than 230,000 students to prepare for careers in business and business-related fields. FBLA is headquartered in Reston, Virginia, and organized on local, state and national levels.