Business Professionals of America (BPA) is a national organization that competes at the state and national level in various competitive events. Members have the opportunity to act as officers for their local chapter as well as at the state and national level, and earn awards for service and competitive events.
The Idaho State University general chapter of BPA has been on campus for 30 years, according to club vice president Mireya Martinez. A second unaffiliated chapter of BPA resides in the College of Technology.
Club president Gabriel Rivas said BPA spans 23 states and boasts over 40,000 members at both the high school and post-secondary level. ISU’s chapter has members from Pocatello, Idaho Falls and Twin Falls.
“I think [BPA] is one of the better clubs to get involved with because you just learn so much,” said Rivas. “It really prepares [students] for the workforce.”
Members of post-secondary chapters of BPA can compete at various events at the state level, and if they do well can qualify for the national conference competition. High school chapters hold a regional competition in addition to state and nationals.
“ISU does pretty well [at competition],” said Martinez.
“We’re usually the biggest chapter and we typically place the most,” added Rivas.
This year, the club competed at state on Friday, March 1, in Boise and will send 12 members to nationals to represent ISU in Orlando, Fla., from Tuesday, May 7, through Sunday, May 12.
In addition, ISU’s Kyle Son was elected Idaho’s state vice president and Spencer Christensen was acknowledged as a candidate for the national officer team. The national officer team will be decided at the national conference in May.
“We’ve always been one of the more active chapters in the Northwest and we’ve been trying to increase our presence nationally,” said Rivas. “I know [Son] is trying to increase membership at the post-secondary level for the state, and basically our goal is to bring ISU out there.”
According to Martinez, BPA holds a close relationship with the Special Olympics. Every year the club tries to do a fundraising event to benefit the Special Olympics as well as ISU’s BPA chapter. This year, the club sold wristbands that say “Idaho BPA supports Special Olympics.” All of the proceeds of wristband sales go to Special Olympics.
Rivas said this was the club’s national service project and he didn’t know of any other chapters doing anything similar.
The Region Eight high school division of BPA holds its regional competition at ISU, which exposes high school students to the university. Club members also holds a leadership conference where they invite local high schools to participate in workshops to aid in their events and professional skills. “One of the goals of this conference, which has been in place four years, is to help these students, you know, give them the tools they need to succeed,” said Rivas. “Not just at BPA but overall in their high school and hopefully some of the skills they’ll take on to college.”
More Club Information
President: Gabriel Rivas
Vice President: Mireya Martinez
Adviser: Dr. Brenda Jacobsen
Members: Approximately 30 members from various majors
Officers: Secretary Kyle Son, Treasurer Veronica Kuehler, P.R. Zach Dolenar
Meetings: Thursdays at 4 p.m. in the College of Education Room 224
Mission: The mission of Business Professionals of America is to contribute to the preparation of a world-class workforce through the advancement of leadership, citizenship, academic and technological skills.
Contact: E-mail Gabriel Rivas at ude.usinull@2bagavir or Mireya Martinez at ude.usinull@erimtram, find the club on Facebook at www.facebook.com/groups/isubpa or search for them as ISU Business Professionals of America. You can also view the BPA website at www.bpa.org.
