Business Person of the Year Nomination 2010
Submitted by Chloe Gibson, Silver Lake FBLA Chapter
by Chloe Gibson
January 12, 2010
The Silver Lake FBLA Chapter has once again nominated Steve Skupa as our state's business person of the year for 2010 for the Nebraska FBLA State Leadership Conference in April 2010. The recommendation below was written by FBLA member Chloe Gibson and submitted to the state level in hopes of the chapter being able to recognize Steve Skupa for his many donations to our school and community. Because it is not said often enough by our chapter, THANK YOU, STEVE! Your financial support and giving back to the community and school of Silver Lake is appreciated!
Businessperson of the Year
Participation in FBLA
The Silver Lake Future Business Leaders of America would like to nominate Steve Skupa as our business person of the year for 2009-2010. Mr. Skupa owns his own crop insurance business called Skupa Agency, operating out of Campbell, Nebraska. Mr. Skupa’s personal approach and caring nature have led to his business becoming one of the largest crop insurance salespersons in the state of Nebraska.
Mr. Skupa operates the business with the help of his wife, three young daughters, and other family members. Mr. Skupa has been apart of our FBLA community for several years. The chapter has grown to count on him make generous donations and give support to our chapter. He has also been well-known for donating food for our fundraisers, money needed to purchase supplies for an FBLA-sponsored event, and for being an event sponsor year-after-year at the State Leadership Conference. Mr. Skupa’s generosity does not stop at FBLA either. He has donated thousands of dollars to Silver Lake for various extracurricular activities, getting hotel rooms and meals for state-bound teams, giving to our student group that travels to Washington D.C. annually, and he is counted on by many community and school members for his generosity and giving nature.
Promotion of FBLA
Mr. Skupa’s financial donations to our local FBLA chapter have allowed our chapter to be involved in various activities that we otherwise may not have been able to participate in. He is a wealth of information in terms of successful business practices and the ambition that it takes to build a small, family-owned business from the ground up in a rural area to one that is counted on by so many for financial support.
Active Interest
Mr. Skupa shows interest in FBLA by supporting the idea of growing business leaders in our community. He knows the financial success and how interesting it can be to own your own business and would love for others to share in his joy. Activity after activity, he has shown he his support and given a sense of hope to the young people of Silver Lake, who might have thought otherwise about returning to a rural area such as this to begin their own business someday.
Financial Assistance
As stated above, Mr. Skupa has always been very generous towards our FBLA chapter, and many other extra-curricular activities our school has. Annually, we can count on his donations for our fundraisers in terms of food or financial assistance, as well as at the state level for a competitive event sponsor. Because of this, we would like to see Mr. Skupa honored as well, as we have nominated him for this award for three years in a row.
Community Service
In our FBLA chapter, we consider Mr. Skupa’s donation of money, his family picking up supplies for fundraisers, helping to pay for hotels, and business support as the greatest service to our community. Through this, he is contributing to the development of the young adults of Silver Lake High School. In his mind maybe this is how he hopes these young people could follow in his footsteps or the footsteps of others and become a successful businessperson and entrepreneur in the communities of Campbell, Holstein, Bladen and Roseland, where Silver Lake students live.
Personal Achievements
Mr. Skupa’s achievements are something that he should be proud of. However, he is not one who is going to ask for a pat on the back or hand out his credentials to be given an award. He is going to give unwillingly to the community, to the students, to the school, and to our extra-curricular activities without expecting anything in return. Our Silver Lake FBLA Chapter would like to give him something in return, the honor or being named the Nebraska FBLA Business Person of the Year at the State Leadership Conference in April 2010. And with your help, we will be able to do so.
