DECA
Role-play and written events across marketing, finance, hospitality, business management, entrepreneurship, and personal finance — with structured prep at every level.
Regionals · States · ICDC
Where MCBA members compete
Our own county summit, a real pitch competition with real funding, and the national contests we prepare students to win.
Our flagship event · Every March
The Montgomery County Business Leaders Summit
Once a year, MCBA brings every chapter together for a day built to feel like the real business world — learn from people who've done it, meet the people who can open doors, and put your own ideas on the line.
Guest Speakers & Workshops
Industry leaders, founders, and MCBA mentors run hands-on sessions on finance, marketing, and building a business — practical skills you use the same day.
Networking Opportunities
Meet sponsors, professionals, alumni, and students from chapters across the county. The connections you make here outlast the event.
The main event
The MCBA Startup Challenge
Student members build a venture and pitch it to a board of investors — live, at the Summit. If the board believes in you, they back you with real money. This isn't a mock exercise: the funding is real, and so is the pressure.
$4K–$10K
awarded in real funding, decided live by a panel of investors
- Who
- MCBA student members
- Format
- Live pitch to an investor board
- Reward
- Funding for the ventures that earn it
How members prepare — the road to March
Tap through the season to see how a member goes from day-one fundamentals to pitching on the Summit stage.
Guest speakers, workshops, networking, and the live Startup Challenge pitch to the investor board. Everything you trained for, in one day.
This year's Summit lands in March — exact date announced to chapters soon.
Competitions we prepare you to win
Beyond the Summit, MCBA members compete on the regional, state, and national stage — and every member gets the study tools to be ready.
National Personal Finance Challenge
Budgeting, credit, investing, and risk management, tested in a case-based team competition.
NPFC · Team · Case study
National Economics Challenge
Micro, macro, and international economics in quiz-bowl and critical-thinking rounds — the most prestigious high-school econ contest in the U.S.
NEC · Micro · Macro
Wharton Investment Challenge
Manage a simulated portfolio with your team and defend an investment thesis to Wharton judges.
Portfolio · Research · Global
Stock Market Game
Live simulated trading over a full term, tracked on a real-time leaderboard — the mechanics of real markets, low-stakes.
SMG · Simulation · Trading
Data Analytics
Read the news, charts, and datasets like an analyst and run a portfolio simulator — our in-house training that sharpens every other competition.
Analysis · Simulator
Members get full prep for every competition inside the Competition Academy — flashcards, practice exams, mock challenges, and progress tracking.