2008 FBLA VBC NATIONAL CHAMPIONS
PHS FBLA team wins national title
By Jen McCoy, Daily Register
Balanced temperaments on a team of three Portage High School students helped them win the title of national champions last week during the Future Business Leaders of America national conference.
Jamison Vaughn, Mitch Seubert and Will Clark competed in the Virtual Business Challenge at the FBLA national conference in Atlanta and came out on top with a $1,000 cash prize. The PHS team, "I Run This," beat out Colorado, North Dakota, California, Kansas, Oregon and Pennsylvania.
Vaughn was the most nervous team member, he said.
"It was hard, but my teammates calmed me down and told me to keep going. They kept motivating me," Vaughn, a junior, said. "We're the first in the nation, and it's just so crazy and indescribable."
The virtual business challenge is similar to an online game, in which each team runs a business by hiring employees and selling their products to customers, according to Jan Imhoff, FBLA adviser for PHS.
"Four teams are competing against each other live on laptops, all vying for the same customers and employees," Imhoff said. "They have to negotiate discounts for customers and can hire employees from the other business while the whole game is only 12 minutes. It's pretty intense."
Each "business" begins with a balance of $2 million and must gain as many customers as possible and add to their revenue, Imhoff said.
Clark was the most laid-back team member.
"I kept pretty calm, but Jamison was nervous so I cracked some jokes to keep light of the situation," said Clark, a recent PHS graduate. "It felt like a lifetime during the 12 minutes, but I think we were in the lead the whole time."
The PHS team gave potential customers - played by the computer program - a 10 percent discount for buying $10,000 worth of their businesses merchandise, Clark said.
"We had to set routes for the trucks, set the amount of products we had and what the right amount of products were going to each store," Clark said.
The convention center of more than 7,400 people competing in 50 events was loud, but the team kept focused, Imhoff said.
Seubert's stress level was somewhere between Clark and Vaughn.
"Will was pretty laid-back, Jamison was nervous and I was nervous but I figured we had nothing to lose," Seubert, a senior, said. "It was a lot of pressure, but we were confident and knew our game plan."
It was a big payoff for all the weekends and vacation days from school spent practicing.
"The boys asked me how I was going to split up the $1,000 check," Imhoff said. "I told them that I would give them each $333 and then I'd get $1 for a processing fee."
Vaughn said that he would use his portion of the prize money toward a new car. Seubert will put his winnings in the bank for college, he said. And, true to the team chemistry, Clark was somewhere in the middle.
"I'm either going to save it for college, or blow it all right away," Clark said.
Both Seubert and Vaughn will participate in FBLA this fall. However, due to FBLA rules, they cannot be on the same team again. Clark will be playing baseball for the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh.
This FBLA team is the second national championship for PHS since Imhoff began as the adviser in 2000. The students said that Imhoff's positive disposition helps them get as far as they do.
"I think this will bring a lot more popularity to FBLA, that they can go to nationals and win money. Oh, and nationals are in California next year, so everyone is going to try hard to get to them," Seubert said.
In 2000, Imhoff had just eight members. For the past three years, the PHS chapter has had the largest number of members of the 250 chapters in the state. It had 152 students last school year.