by Following a long legacy of achievement, students from North Georgia Technical College (NGTC) won top awards at the 2025 Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) Collegiate National Leadership Conference in Dallas, Texas.
As one of the best-performing chapters in the nation, the NGTC FBLA Chapter received two national honors, including the National Hollis and Kitty Guy Gold Seal Chapter Award of Merit.
In the State of the Chapter presentation, students Renee Petenbrink from Toccoa, Kiley Snelgrove from Lavonia, and Adrionna Spencer from Blairsville came in sixth place nationwide. Additionally, Snelgrove placed tenth in Computer Applications, earning a top-ten result.
State competition
The chapter’s achievements extended beyond the national arena. All seven of NGTC’s student competitors qualified for nationals after the team won 18 individual, team, and chapter accolades at the state conference in Atlanta earlier this year.
Among the state competition’s highlights were:
- Karen Hicks of Blue Ridge 1st place in Emerging Business Issues; 5th in Foundations of Communication
- Snelgrove 2nd place in Business Communications; 3rd in Computer Applications; 3rd in State of the Chapter presentations
- Petenbrink 2nd place in Foundations of Accounting; 3rd in the Business Presentation competition; 3rd in State of the Chapter presentations
- Spencer 3rd place in Future Business Executive; 3rd in State of the Chapter presentations
- Zoe Fitzgerald of Blairsville 3rd place in Organizational Behavior and Leadership and Parliamentary Procedure
- Michael Ramirez of Alto 3rd place in Project Management; 6th in Foundations of Entrepreneurship
- Daisy Paramo of Alto 4th in Parliamentary Procedure; 5th in Foundations of Accounting
Additionally, the chapter won first place statewide for Alzheimer’s Fundraising and was given the Platinum Chapter Award of Merit. Snelgrove won the Wings of Excellence Award, while Hicks was recognized individually as a member of Georgia FBLA Collegiate’s Who’s Who.
A remarkable accomplishment
Business technology instructors Mona Williams and Angela Banks serve as NGTC’s FBLA mentors. As Georgia’s FBLA Collegiate Executive Director, Williams was also recognized. Under her leadership, Georgia’s collegiate chapter won first place in the country for Alzheimer’s Fundraising.
The pupils’ accomplishments were commended by the college administration.
According to Stephanie Benson, NGTC Vice President of Academic Affairs, attending nationals is an incredible achievement. We are immensely pleased of the diligence and commitment exhibited by our students and advisors.
Williams agreed, highlighting the students’ bravery and teamwork: These students ventured beyond their comfort zones to compete against some of the nation’s most promising future business leaders. We are eager to watch what they do next since they are real team players.
With over 230,000 members preparing for leadership and business careers, FBLA is the world’s biggest business career and technical student organization.
