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  stateoffice@pafbla.us
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Adviser Resource Center, 2026-2027

Adviser Resource Center, 2026-2027

Updates from the Executive Director/State Office:
Important Back-to-School Forms

  • National FBLA Dues:  $10 per high school or middle school member
  • PA State High School FBLA Dues:  $8 per member
  • PA State Middle School FBLA Dues:  $4 per member
    • Total Per High School Member:  $18
    • Total Per Middle School Member:  $14

August 26, 2026

  • National FBLA and Encourage — you may receive an Encourage College and Career Planning Kit by postal service mail at your chapter very soon (don’t discard it).  This is a legitimate data collection activity with valuable information to be gleaned from it if your school system permits you to participate.  This is the information I received from National FBLA for me to encourage you to participate:
    • Your Encourage College and Career Planning kit will arrive at your school soon, and your envelope includes everything you need to get started.  Here’s a quick checklist:
      • Open the envelope and review the introductory letter and instructions
      • Complete your educator questionnaire to tell us a bit about your role and update your contact info, if needed
      • Share the student form with your students by September 24, 2026

August 25, 2026

  • The 2026-2027 High School Competitive Events topics will be posted on the National FBLA site by September 01.  Although not yet public, you will find a list of the topics here.
  • The 2026-2027 Middle School Competitive Events topics will be posted on the National FBLA site by September 01. Although not yet public, you will find a list of the topics here.
  • There have been changes to the High School Champion Chapter submission process.  High School Champion Chapter information is found at this link.  Follow these suggestions:
    • As items are completed by your local chapter, you can upload them without waiting until the final upload deadline.  This is a big change.  Uploads will be done in FBLA Connect.
      • Login to FBLA Connect.
      • Click “Programs” at the left.
      • Under “Available Programs,” select “High School Champion Chapter.”
      • Click on the activity for which you wish to submit documentation.  There is a new narrative piece to the process.
    • Print the “tracker” found at this site.  It is an excellent tool.  Print it on 11 x 17 paper or 18 x 24 paper if you want posters.  National FBLA will not be sending posters.
    • To clearly understand what needs to be uploaded as documentation, download and print the “one-pagers” for each season.  The one pagers can be downloaded below the graphic for each season.
  • The Middle School Champion Chapter materials on posted on the National FBLA website. Middle School Champion Chapter information is found at this link.   The process for middle school submission is nearly the same (but not exactly) as the high school.
    • As items are completed by your local chapter, you can upload them without waiting until the final upload deadline.  This is a big change.  Uploads will be done in FBLA Connect. 
      • Login to FBLA Connect.
      • Click “Programs” at the left.
      • Under “Available Programs,” select “Middle School Champion Chapter.”
      • Click on the activity for which you wish to submit documentation.  There is a new narrative piece to the process.
    • To clearly understand what needs to be uploaded as documentation, download and print the “one-pagers” for each season.  The one pagers can be downloaded below the graphic for each season.

August 24, 2026

  • The High School Business Achievement Awards are live.  Members need to be in FBLA Connect and on a “paid or pending” invoice AND have activated their FBLA Connect account.  High School BAAs information is found at this link.  There are four levels of awards; the approximate time to complete each level is shown below.
    • Contributor Award (1-2 hours)
    • Leader Award (4-6 hours)
    • Advocate Award (8-10 hours)
    • Capstone Award (80+ hours)
      • For a student to self-register for the BAAs, the student needs to sign on to FBLA Connect. Look for “Courses” at the left in the blue menus.
  • The Middle School Business Achievement Awards are live.  Members need to be in FBLA Connect and on a “paid or pending” invoice AND have activated their FBLA Connect account.  The Middle School BAAs replace the LEAD awards.  Middle School BAAs information is found at this link.  There are two levels of awards; the approximate time to complete each level is shown below.
    • Explore Award (2-3 hours)
    • Aspire Award (5-6 hours)
      • For a student to self-register for the BAAs, the student needs to sign on to FBLA Connect. Look for “Courses” at the left in the blue menus.

August 21, 2026

  • Everyone has an obligation to comply with the FBLA Brand Guidelines found on the National FBLA website.  At this site, you can download the FBLA Brand Guidebook.  Please pay attention to the following in the Brand Guidelines area:  The Delta is not permitted to be used alone on any online site; on any article of clothing; on any print material; etc.  If the Delta is being used, the official wording “FBLA” must be used with it.  Please go to the Brand Guidelines for specific information.

August 20, 2026

  • The Who’s Who Criteria has been revised and is now published in the Programs > Individual area menu of the website.  A completely new form platform (Jotform) is being used to enable used to begin working on an item; save it; and then return to complete it.  It is important to know, however, that users will need to create a username and password when they save.  The saved item is good for 60 days for edits from the first time it has been saved.
  • Work on revisions and conversion to Jotform for the Outstanding Chapter Criteria will occur next.  Links to the OCC may go offline during the revision process.
  • If you had competitors at the National Leadership Conference in San Antonio, it is the local adviser’s responsibility to sign on to Blue Panda and access the information.  National FBLA has provided the following to aid advisers in getting that information:  Learn how to access scores and rating sheets.
  • National FBLA has an Annual Adviser Survey that it asks local chapter advisers to complete.  Much of the survey is a choice of items to a questions; there are some that are “open-ended.”  If you can find time in your schedule, please complete the survey.

August 19, 2026

  • The 2026 SLW Attendee Guide is now published in the State Leadership Workshop area of the website.
  • High school chapter advisers and officers can download print the High School Champion Chapter tracking sheets from the National FBLA website or by clicking this link.  It is formatted for 11 x 17 paper.  Middle school chapter advisers and officers can download print the Middle School Champion Chapter tracking sheets from the national FBLA website or clicking this link.  For both high school and middle school chapters, the Summer Starter documentation must be  uploaded by September 24.  All uploading of data must be done by the primary chapter adviser from the chapter’s FBLA Connect dashboard.

August 15, 2026

August 14, 2026

  • State Leadership Workshop registration opens on Saturday, August 15, at 12:00 noon.  In order to register students in Blue Panda, they must be listed on an invoice either paid by credit card OR indicating a check will be sent for payment.  That will make the students’ status either “paid or pending.”  Failure to submit the invoice means students will not be imported into Blue Panda.
  • In the State Leadership Workshop area, there are various flyers detailing specific events taking place at the SLW.  You will find information on the “special entertainment” options; the basket auction; the rubber ducky derby; and more.
  • The SLW schedule/workshop grid is posted.
  • The SLW Attendee Guide will be posted by Wednesday, August 19.

August 12, 2026

  • The State Officer Team “Welcome Back” video is now posted on the main page of the website.  Take a look at what the state officer team is planning for the year.
  • The American Heart Association “State Project” area of the website has been revised.  Click on this link to access information about the American Heart Association, regional contacts, potential projects, and more on the main page of the PA FBLA website.
  • Stay tuned to National FBLA for information on reinstatement of the National FBLA Community Service Awards.  Encourage your members to get involved in Pennsylvania FBLA’s Big 33 Community Service Program.
  • Champion Chapter Banners:  For those chapters that did not attend the NLC, I was given Champion Chapter gold, silver, and bronze banners to mail.  They were mailed several weeks ago.  For those that were in attendance at the NLC but did not receive their banners because of the distribution confusion that took place at the Eastern Region meeting, they have been shipped to me to distribute.  They will be mailed to chapters no later than this Friday, August 14.

August 11, 2026

  • The “Important Dates” area of the website has been revised:  About Menu > Important Dates.  It contains a full list of deadline dates for 2026-2027.
  • FBLA Connect is open for membership processing.  In fact, there are close to 85 high school members from various schools in Connect with many beginning or continuing their work on the Business Achievement Awards (BAAs).  Please, strive to include a student’s “personal e-mail” as part of their profile to make sure school security rules do not block state and national FBLA communications from reaching your members.
  • Don’t forget to look at the State Leadership Workshop section on the PA FBLA website for information on the October 31-November 01-02 event.  If you haven’t viewed the promo video, here’s the link:  State Leadership Workshop Promotional Video.

August 10, 2026

August 02, 2026

At the State Leaders Summit in Columbus, Ohio (the site of next year’s NLC), we received updates from the various National FBLA departments.  Here are a couple of items:

  • There are no major competitive events changes at the high school or middle school levels.  You need to be aware that there will be a whole host of resources available in FBLA Connect that will require logins by advisers and students.  Any outside website claiming to provide event sample tests, case studies, or other event prep materials in not sanctioned by National FBLA and should not be used.  The National FBLA competitive events materials and prep resources are copyrighted and cannot be posted anywhere else without permission.
  • The 2027 NLC and subsequent NLCs are now several days earlier to provide space before the July 04 holiday.  The Columbus, Ohio, NLC will be June 23-26.  That means NLC registration and lodging deadlines will also be a week earlier.
  • There have been changes to FBLA Connect.  The first thing you will notice is a “new” front page.  There are still some issues with the redesign that National FBLA is working to resolve.  Give National FBLA some space to resolve those issues — August 15 sound like a good date.

August 01, 2026

  • The 2026-2027 PA FBLA Important Dates are published on the PA FBLA website.  About Menu > Important Dates.  It includes critical deadlines for National FBLA, PA FBLA High School, and PA FBLA Middle School.
  • Champion Chapter Summer Starter is open through September 24 for both high school and middle school chapters.  It’s an excellent tool to help chapters develop a sound foundation and a plan of work for this membership year.
  • Business Achievement Awards are also open for high school and middle school members.  The middle school LEAD awards are now known as the Business Achievement Awards for middle school members.  Yes, they are different for high school and middle school  members.

July 31, 2026

  1.  At the April 2026 State Leadership Conference, local chapter voting delegates approved an amendment to the PA FBLA Bylaws regarding the dues structure.  The 2026-2027 dues rates are:
    • National FBLA Dues:  $10 per high school or middle school member
    • PA State High School FBLA Dues:  $8 per member
    • PA State Middle School FBLA Dues:  $4 per member
      • Total Per High School Member:  $18
      • Total Per Middle School Member:  $14
        • As part of the approval process, the 2027 State Leadership Conference rates for registration and lodging are frozen at the same levels as the 2026 State Leadership Conference.
        • The approval results:  85.1% in favor of approving the bylaws amendments; 14.9% against.  The necessary 2/3 approval vote was met.
  2. State Leadership Workshop registration and lodging will open on August 15.
  3. A nationwide State Leaders Summit is being held August 01-03.  Information that is important to chapters will be posted in this area as information is received from National FBLA staff.
  4. There will be a published calendar of Zoom leadership development/training sessions found on the website open t0 chapter advisers, chapter officers, and chapter members.  Pre-registration will be required. Look for the Zoom schedule graphic on the main page.
  5. The 2026-2027 State Project is:  American Heart Association.  The state project slogan is:  Lead with Heart, Serve with Purpose.  Stay tuned for more information on the main page of the PA FBLA website; look for the AHA/PA FBLA graphic when published.

 July 30, 2026

  1.  National FBLA has started to ship 2026-2027 Chapter Management Handbooks to schools with active/paid members on file as of June 30.  They should start to appear at your school office by August 14.  Handbooks were sent by United States Postal Service and addressed to the primary adviser.  f you do not receive your welcome kit by August 15, please submit a ticket to the FBLA Help Desk.
  2. FBLA Connect is down and has been down for maintenance during the month of July.  It is expected to reopen on August 01 at 6:00 am with a new look/new interface.  Stay tuned for additional guidance on the changes as State Leaders will receive training starting this weekend, August 01-03.  Please do not make changes to any advisers in FBLA Connect without notifying the state office first:  bboncal@pafbla.us.  Because there are different permissions that are associated with primary advisers and co-advisers for various PA FBLA platforms, it is important to notify the state office before changes are made; please let the state office make the necessary changes.
  3. If your chapter had a national competitor and you are looking for scores/rating sheets, that will be made available to FBLA Chapter Advisers through National FBLA’s Blue Panda.  That information will not be available until August 01 or soon after.  Stay tuned for an announcement from National FBLA.
  4. The PA FBLA Penn Pal has been retired.  Chapters will submit chapter news via an online form on the PA FBLA website; news posts will be viewable by anyone (after approval by state staff).  More information will be posted on the website.
  5. The 2026-2027 Pennsylvania state theme is:  Empowering Leaders, Unlocking Success.

2026-2027 FBLA Year Adviser Forms

1.  High School Chapter Status/Intent Form (will open August 10)
AND/OR
2.  Middle School Chapter Status/Intent Form (will open August 10)

3.  New Chapter Adviser Registration Form (will open August 10)

  • Complete this form if you are a brand new FBLA chapter adviser or if you are returning as an adviser after an absence.

4.  Current Chapter Adviser Contact Information Update Form

  • Complete this form if you are a current FBLA adviser and need to update any part of your contact information.

When would you use this contact information update form?  Here are some examples:
1.  your name changed
2.  your email address changed
3.  your cell phone changed
4.  your school’s address changed
5.  your school within the same school system changed (ex.  you transferred to a new school within the same system)

If you are now teaching at a new school system and are the new primary adviser or new co-adviser, please complete the New Chapter Adviser Registration Form.  That data is used to update your national and state records.

August 2025 (Zoom meetings require pre-registration/click the session title to register)

Recordings of Meetings:  Click This Link for the Recordings of Meeting That Were Held
Register for future meetings by clicking the link below.

September 30:  PA FBLA — Zoom — PA FBLA 2025-2026 Competitive Changes (for advisers and all members), 7:00 pm | Link to Recording / password: UkY4S?2u
October 02:  PA FBLA — Zoom — PA FBLA 2025-2026 Competitive Changes (for advisers and all members), 7:00 pm | Link to Recording / password: REi@R2bM

November 2025 (Zoom meetings require pre-registration/click the session title to register)

December 2025 (Zoom meetings require pre-registration/click the session title to register)

January 2026 (Zoom meetings require pre-registration/click the session title to register)