Stanley FBLA Places Second At State Conference
Members of the Stanley Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) chapter attended the 59th annual North Dakota FBLA State Leadership Conference March 29-31, 2026. Over sixty FBLA chapters from across the state participated in this conference, connecting approximately 1,300 middle and high school students to test business skills against their peers from around the state.
The most exciting aspect of the conference is the competitive events program. Students have the opportunity to test the business skills they’ve learned in the classroom in a variety of individual, team, and chapter events. Students can enter events such as accounting, computer applications, public speaking, job interview, website design, or business ethics. The culmination of the competitive events program is the awards ceremony where winners are recognized for their accomplishments, and we find out who will represent North Dakota at the National Leadership Conference this summer.
In addition to the competitive events program, students had the opportunity to attend workshops, vote for the 2026-27 state officer team, and network with members from around the state. This year, members also had the opportunity to hear from keynote speaker, Dr. Cindra Kamphoff, CMPC, PCC, with her keynote “How to Quickly Move on From a Mistake” and her workshop, “How to Develop the High Performance Mindset”.
The Stanley FBLA Chapter received Gold level status and placed fourth in the state in fundraising for the Alzheimer’s Association. Payton Lystad finished her term as State Treasurer and Tess Jarmin was chosen as this year’s Businessperson of the Year. The Who’s Who recognition from Stanley included Payton Lystad, Mya Mortensen, Kaylee Cotton and Marley Hoaby.
As a chapter, Stanley FBLA was the state runner up overall. Individual team and group events who placed are listed below. Events with an asterisk (*) have qualified to compete at the National Leadership Conference this summer in San Antonio, TX.
First place: Broadcast Journalism: Valentina Anthony, Erika Littlefield, Elizabeth Nelson*; Business Plan: Payton Lystad*; Exploring Website Design: Reese Mortensen*; Spreadsheet Applications: Reese Mortensen*; Website Design: Kaylee Cotton and Ashley Walter*
Second place: Accounting: Jozey Sorenson*; Annual Chapter Activities Presentation: Reese Mortensen, Zoe Mortensen, Arianna Salgado*; Exploring Professionalism: Charlyn Hannon*; Introduction to Business Concepts: Lizbeth Garcia*; Introduction to Social Media Strategy: Amanda Aguilar and Lizbeth Garcia*; Local Chapter Annual Business Report: Payton Lystad and Mya Mortensen*; Social Media Strategies: Salomeea Simen and Alice Wienbar*
Third place: Exploring Business Concepts: Charlyn Hannon; Exploring Technology: Anara Swenson; Project Management: Kaylee Cotton*; Real Estate: Amanda Dick*; Slide Deck Applications: Zoe Mortensen
Fourth place: Business Ethics: Bryan Almonte and Jacob Altamirano*; Computer Applications: Ashley Walter*
Fifth place: Business Management: Mya Mortensen and Jozey Sorenson; Event Planning: Danica Hermanson; Human Resource Management: Mya Mortensen
Seventh place: Advanced Accounting: Payton Lystad
Tenth place: Advanced Accounting: Bryan Almonte