Several Flathead Valley Community College business students earned high honors in the Business Professionals of America competition in Indianapolis.

The team of Kyle Lathrop, Ashley Olson, Daniel Sutley and Tyler Dailey took third place overall in the small business management competition, while Olson finished third in the ethics competition.

The competition included 82 events with thousands of students competing. The FVCC students only chose four events and placed in the top 10 in each.

According to Business Professor Brenda Rudolph, the students she took to Indiana were totally focused on competing.

“We took some very bright students,” she said. “They actually wanted to stay in the room and study. We kind of had to push them out to enjoy the city.”

The Business Professionals of America is one of two national organizations teaching students about business. Twenty-seven states, including Montana, are part of the BPA. The other organization, Future Business Leaders of America, includes the remaining states.

In Montana, the BPA is much larger among high school age students than post-secondary students. The University of Montana and Montana State University do not participate, but Rudolph is trying to get them involved.

“We haven’t been able to get the universities excited about it,” she said. “Trying to grow post-secondary interest is next on the agenda.”

The Montana state meeting in Billings brought together more than 1,000 students, including some from Glacier and Flathead high schools.

While the FVCC students only competed in four events, they were capable of spreading out, but decided to focus on a few at which they excelled, Rudolph said.  

She has been taking students to the national competition for decades and has a few stories that show some Montana quirks.

“I took a group a number of years ago,” Rudolph said. “I told them the event was very professional attire, but I didn’t tell them what that meant. One girl shows up in her best Levi’s and polished cowboy boots. She wasn’t let in and we had to go shopping for business professional clothes.”

The funds for the trip come largely from fundraising efforts such as book sales, but the college helps a considerable amount from the activity fund.

At next year’s convention in Anaheim, Calif., Rudolph expects to increase the scope of what her students will compete in. A computer science professor will help make students proficient in the electronic categories, she said. 

But for now, Rudolph is pleased her studious students were able to do so well on a national stage.

“We can’t help them with any of this,” she said. “So I feel very good about it, it’s very rewarding for the students.”

Reporter Ryan Murray may be reached at 758-4436 or by email at rmurray@dailyinterlake.com.