Lake Michigan College student Eli Barker of South Bend earned honors at the Business Professionals Association (BPA) National Leadership Conference in Indianapolis, Indiana last month.

Barker competed in the Business Meeting Management Open Event, and was judged on his knowledge of business planning and strategy, organization and execution, and trust and transparency.

He placed third out of 134 students who took part in the event. Barker also received certification in visual communication using Adobe Photoshop while attending the conference.

Barker graduated this month with an Associate in Arts and a Level I Certificate in Graphic Design A graphic design major with high honors. He is the outgoing secretary of the LMC chapter of the BPA.

LMC Business Instructor and BPA Chapter Advisor Greg Iwaniuk said  “The conference and involvement in the BPA chapter help students develop leadership abilities, gives students insight into what skills employers are looking for, and provides them with great opportunities to network with other business students.”

BPA is a career and technical student organization for students pursuing careers in business management, office administration, information technology and other related fields. BPA has 43,000 members in more than 2,300 chapters in 23 states.

It supports business and information technology educators by offering exercises based on national standards.