CHADRON – Nearly 200 Nebraska high school students from 25 high schools participated in the Fourth Annual Best of the West Virtual Business Invitational Jan. 26-28, co-hosted by Chadron State College and the Nebraska Council on Economic Education (NCEE).

The virtual environment nearly doubled the attendance, according to NCEE Chadron Center administrator Dr. Gary Dusek.

“The result of the virtual contest was much more competition. We expect to be back to an in-person contest next year, but we hope many of the schools that attended for the first time will come to the CSC campus,” Dusek said.

The competition included written tests in nine subjects, as well as a job interview contest for seniors. In the team standings, Boyd County placed first, followed by Cambridge, and Lincoln East.

CSC faculty members Dr. Richard Koza, Terrie Wood, and Christopher McCarthy, judged the job interview contest. Volunteers from the Nebraska Business Development Center and student members of Phi Beta Lambda also assisted with the event.

The Best of the West Business Invitational followed Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) competition guidelines. Dusek said by doing so, the competition served to prepare the students for the virtual FBLA State Leadership Conference in April.

Results

Teams: 1, Boyd County; 2, Cambridge; and 3, Lincoln East.

Accounting: 1, Caden Tingelhoff of Wahoo; 2, Ian Tomlin of Cambridge; 3, Ben Thrasher of Wahoo; 4, Bethany Stocker of Red Cloud; and 5, Dali Del Toro of Hemingford.

Business Calculations: 1, Isabella Cao of Kearney; 2, Sela Rikli of Elmwood-Murdock; 3, Caden Tingelhoff of Wahoo; 4, Shane Horwart of Cambridge; and 5, Luke Polacek of Wahoo.

Business Communications: 1, Isabella Cao of Kearney; 2, Saylor Rother of Johnson County Central; 3, Teja Farley of Syracuse; 4, Sela Rikli of Elmwood-Murdock; and 5, Brayden Almgren of Boyd County.

Economics: 1, Aleena Nguyen of Lincoln Southwest; 2, Akash Nooka of Lincoln East; 3, Shane Horwart of Cambridge; 4, Kenneth Ou of Lincoln East; and 5, Luke Greisen of Lincoln East.

Intro to Business: 1, McKenzie Snyder of Boyd County; 2, Harsimran Kaur of Alliance; 3, Emma Rasmussen of Cambridge; 4, Trevor Goesch of Boyd County; 5, Jacey Kent of Cambridge.

Introduction to FBLA: 1, Alexandra Howell of Fillmore Central; 2, Paige Drueke of Boyd County; 3, Liz Kersch of Boyd County; 4, Lanie Lachtenberg of Boyd County; and 5, Sadie Birky of Fillmore Central.

Financial Math: 1, Autumn Iversen of Wahoo; 2, Annaka Digmann of Alliance; 3, Alyssa Hellwege of Lincoln North Star; 4, Carver Hauptman of Alliance; and 5, Brooke Milam of Newman Grove.

Marketing: 1, Kenneth Ou of Lincoln East; 2, Isabella Cao of Kearney; 3, Shane Horwart of Cambridge; 4, Zoran Curgus of Lincoln East; and 5, Neeraj Kadubandi and Lincoln East.

Personal Finance: 1, Kylie Newkirk of Lincoln North Star; 2, Tyler Vander Woude of Lincoln Southeast; 3, Tait Vasa of Arthur County; 4, Shelbee Burke of Alliance; and 5, Myles Osmera of South Platte.

Job Interview: 1, Lauryn Hoffman of Boyd County; 2, Kennady Stack, Chadron; 3, Jacob Harrison of Concordia; 4, Teja Farley of Syracuse; 5, Kali Nedrow of Fillmore Central; and 6, Macy Kamler of Shickley.

- Chadron State College Relations