Terms of Service

By accessing this website, joining the Maryland Counties Business Association (“MCBA,” “we,” “us”), creating an account, or participating in any MCBA program, competition, or event, you agree to be bound by these Terms of Service. If you do not agree, please do not use our website or participate in our programs.

MCBA programs are intended for high school students and members of participating school communities.

• Participants are generally expected to be enrolled high school students.
• MCBA is not directed to children under 13, and no one under 13 may create an account. If MCBA learns that an account belongs to a child under 13, it closes the account and deletes its data.
• Because many participants are minors, every account created on this site must confirm at signup that the member is at least 13, and either that the member is 18 or older or that a parent or legal guardian has agreed to these Terms on their behalf. That confirmation is recorded.
• By allowing a minor in your care to participate, a parent or guardian agrees to these Terms on the minor’s behalf.

• There are two kinds of membership. Academy membership (the Max plan) is a paid subscription to the MCBA study platform, bought online under the terms in section 9. Chapter membership puts you in your school’s MCBA chapter for the school year, with the same access: you get it by choosing your school’s active chapter on this site and paying the chapter fee (section 9), or MCBA may place you in a chapter directly.
• Members are expected to meet the participation requirements of their chapter and to follow these Terms and the Code of Conduct.
• Membership is a privilege and may be suspended or revoked for misconduct or violation of these Terms.
• Membership does not guarantee any leadership position, award, competition placement, or specific outcome.

All participants are expected to act with integrity and respect. The following are prohibited:

• Harassment, discrimination, bullying, intimidation, or threats of any kind.
• Illegal activity, cheating, or academic dishonesty.
• Disruption of programs, events, or the experience of other participants.
• Sharing account credentials or misusing MCBA systems.

MCBA may warn, suspend, or remove any participant at its discretion for conduct that violates these Terms.

• Submitting a leadership application does not guarantee acceptance or any position.
• Leadership selections are made at MCBA’s discretion.
• Positions may be removed for inactivity, misconduct, or violation of these Terms.

• Participation in events, competitions, and activities is voluntary.
• Attendees assume the normal risks associated with attending in-person or virtual events.
• MCBA may cancel, reschedule, relocate, or change the format of any event at any time.
• Competitions MCBA runs itself, such as the Startup Challenge at the Business Leaders Summit, are governed by official rules that MCBA publishes before entries open. Those rules set out who may enter, how entries are judged, and what may be awarded. Any funding or award is decided by the judges under those rules: it may be less than the most advertised, or not awarded at all if no entry earns it. An award to a participant under 18 is made through their parent or guardian, and a winner may be asked for tax information where the law requires it.

• MCBA may photograph, film, or record its events and activities.
• These images and recordings may be used for educational, promotional, and marketing purposes, unless prohibited by law.
• If you do not wish to appear in MCBA media, submit a written request to us in advance and we will make reasonable efforts to accommodate it. For a participant under 18, a parent or guardian may make that request, and may ask at any time for an image already published to be taken down.

• Sponsorship or advertising does not imply MCBA’s endorsement of a sponsor’s products, services, or views.
• Advertising and sponsored content must follow MCBA’s guidelines and applicable law.
• MCBA may decline or remove any advertisement or sponsorship at its discretion.
• Partners. Every business that buys a sponsorship, and every business or person who makes a donation, is an MCBA partner for the school year in which they paid. Unless you untick the partner box at checkout, MCBA lists the business name you gave (or your own name, if you gave no business) on the Sponsors page and the home page of this site as a partner, and may name you as a partner in its materials; a sponsor's logo is added by arrangement. You can ask for the listing to be removed at any time by emailing mcba@mc-ba.com. Being a partner is recognition: it grants no right to use MCBA’s name or marks, no say in MCBA’s programs, and no endorsement by MCBA of your products, services or views.
• Specific sponsorship and advertising arrangements may be governed by a separate written agreement.

This section applies to everything paid for on this site: the Max subscription, the Chapter membership, Summit tickets, sponsorships and donations. Program and event fees are due as described at the time of enrollment, and any separate written agreement governs them.

• Plans and prices. The Max plan is sold as a monthly or an annual subscription at the price shown on the pricing page and at checkout. Prices include any sales tax that applies.
• Chapter membership. The Chapter plan is a single payment at the price shown, for the current school year, which runs from July 1 to June 30. It does not renew automatically; to stay in your chapter for the next school year, you buy it again. It places you in the chapter you chose at checkout. MCBA may move a member to the right chapter, or remove one from a chapter, for misconduct or if the chapter closes, and a refund of the chapter fee ends the chapter membership.
• Summit tickets. A ticket to the Business Leaders Summit is a single payment for the named event, one per account. What you buy is a ticket code, shown on your ticket page and emailed to you as soon as you pay; it admits one person, and you present it at the door. Referral credit in your account is applied at checkout and reduces the price. Tickets are not refundable or transferable, except that if MCBA cancels the Summit, tickets are refunded in full; if the Summit is rescheduled, your ticket carries over to the new date. Credit spent on a refunded ticket returns to your account.
• Sponsorships. A sponsorship is the purchase of the branding and recognition benefits listed for the tier on the Sponsors page (logo placement, acknowledgement, and the rest), for the current school year (July 1 to June 30), at the tier price shown, as a single payment. It is an advertising arrangement under section 8: you receive a receipt for it, MCBA arranges the benefits with you after payment, and any separate written agreement governs the details. At checkout you give your name and the business name; the business becomes an MCBA partner for the year and is listed on this site unless you untick that (section 8, Partners). It does not renew automatically. A sponsorship does not buy a membership, Academy access or any say in MCBA’s programs. Payments are final and not refundable.
• Donations. A donation is a single payment of the amount you choose, with no benefits attached beyond a thank-you if you want one and, unless you untick it at checkout, a listing as an MCBA partner for the year under the business name you gave or your own name (section 8, Partners). It does not buy a membership, Academy access or any say in MCBA’s programs, and it is final and not refundable.
• Automatic renewal. A Max subscription renews automatically at the end of each billing period, monthly or yearly depending on the plan you chose, and the payment method you gave at checkout is charged the then-current price for the next period. It keeps renewing until you cancel.
• Cancelling. You can cancel a subscription at any time from Settings → Membership → Manage subscription & billing, or by emailing us. Cancelling stops future charges. Your access continues until the end of the period you have already paid for, and then ends. A Chapter membership has nothing to cancel: it is paid once and ends on June 30.
• Payments are final. Once a payment has been made it is not refundable, in whole or in part. There are no refunds or credits for unused time, for a partial period, for cancelling after a renewal has been charged, or for forgetting to cancel. Please cancel before your renewal date if you do not want to be charged again.
• Exceptions. A refund is issued only where the law requires it, or where our payment processor issues one under its own policies. Any refund goes to the original payment method, ends the subscription it was paid for, and withdraws any referral credit that payment had earned.
• Failed payments. If a renewal payment fails, the processor may retry it. Access may be suspended until a payment succeeds, and a subscription that stays unpaid is cancelled.
• Price changes. We may change plan prices with notice before your next renewal. Continuing past the renewal date accepts the new price; cancelling before it does not.
• Payment processing. Payments are processed by Stripe on Stripe’s own checkout page. MCBA never sees or stores your card number. The charge may appear on your statement as MC-BA.COM or as LINK.COM* MC-BA.COM, and receipts and invoices may be sent by Stripe.
• Minors. A member under 18 may only buy a plan with the permission of a parent or guardian, who is responsible for the payment and agrees to this section on the member’s behalf.

MCBA may run a referral program that gives a credit toward MCBA membership when someone you refer becomes a paying member in a chapter. The program’s current rules are shown in your account.

• A credit is issued only once the referred person is a member as the program defines it, and it can be withdrawn if the payment that earned it is refunded, disputed, or reversed.
• Credits have no cash value and cannot be transferred or exchanged for money. They are applied at checkout to a Summit ticket, and to other MCBA payments as the site adds them; a credit is spent only when the payment it was applied to goes through.
• If you share your referral link or code publicly, for example on social media, say plainly that you may earn credit when someone joins through it.
• MCBA may change, pause, or end the program at any time, and may withhold or withdraw credits earned through misuse, such as self-referral or fake accounts.

The MCBA name, logo, branding, curriculum, presentations, study materials, and other content are the property of MCBA or its licensors.

You may not copy, reproduce, distribute, resell, or create derivative works from MCBA materials without our prior written permission.

Competition names used on this website, including DECA, ICDC, the National Economics Challenge, the National Personal Finance Challenge, the Stock Market Game, and the Wharton Global High School Investment Competition, are trademarks of their respective owners. MCBA uses them only to identify those competitions. MCBA is independent of those organizations and is not affiliated with, sponsored by, or endorsed by any of them.

AP® and Advanced Placement® are trademarks registered by the College Board, which is not affiliated with MCBA and does not endorse this website or its materials. MCBA’s AP practice papers are written by MCBA to the published course framework; they are not College Board exam questions.

Company names and ticker symbols in the Portfolio Simulator identify real public companies so their history can be studied. They are their owners’ trademarks, and no company named there is affiliated with MCBA or endorses it.

MCBA’s study materials, practice tests, flashcards, and practice scenarios are written by MCBA. They are not official competition materials, and no competition organizer has reviewed or approved them. Where MCBA refers to a competition’s published rules, performance indicators, or evaluation criteria, it does so to describe the standard a member is preparing for; those remain their owners’ work.

If you believe anything on this website infringes your copyright or trademark, email us with what it is, where it appears, and why. We will review it promptly and remove anything that infringes.

• You keep ownership of what you submit, such as a practice recording’s transcript, a pasted scenario, or a message. You give MCBA permission to store and process it only as needed to provide the service to you (for example, to grade a practice run and show it back to you), and to have the service providers named in our Privacy Policy do so on our behalf.
• You remain responsible for any content you submit, post, or share through MCBA programs or systems.
• You must have the rights to any content you submit and must not submit anything unlawful or infringing.
• MCBA may remove content it considers inappropriate, harmful, or in violation of these Terms.

MCBA’s content is provided for educational and informational purposes only. It is not legal, financial, investment, tax, accounting, or other professional advice.

Simulated portfolios, trading games, and practice scenarios do not involve real money and do not reflect actual investment results. Always consult a qualified professional before making financial decisions.

Some material is produced with AI, including DECA practice evaluations and some practice scenarios. MCBA reviews its study material, but any of it may contain mistakes, and practice tests are not predictions of what any real exam or competition will ask. The Portfolio Simulator uses historical market data that may contain errors.

DECA practice evaluations are written by an AI system applying DECA’s published evaluation forms as the standard. They are a practice aid: an estimate of how a judge applying the form might score a run, with the evidence for each line. They are not a DECA score or an official result of any kind, and DECA does not produce or endorse them.

To the fullest extent permitted by law, MCBA and its officers, volunteers, advisors, and partners are not liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages arising from your use of the organization, this website, our programs, or our events.

To the same extent, MCBA’s total liability for any claim relating to these Terms or our services is limited to the amount you paid MCBA in the 12 months before the claim arose. Nothing in these Terms limits liability that cannot be limited by law.

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless MCBA and its officers, volunteers, advisors, and partners from any claims, losses, liabilities, or expenses arising from your own actions, your content, or your violation of these Terms.

The website and services are provided on an “as is” and “as available” basis, without warranties of any kind, whether express or implied, including fitness for a particular purpose and uninterrupted availability.

MCBA may suspend or terminate any account, membership, or access at any time for violation of these Terms or for conduct that harms MCBA, its members, or its programs.

MCBA collects limited information needed to operate its programs, such as a student’s name, chapter, login credentials, progress within the learning platform, and a record of any payment (never a card number). Only MCBA administrators can see member data, and student data is not sold.

We use this information to run the Competition Academy, track progress, communicate with members and chapters, and improve our programs. Parent or guardian consent is confirmed and recorded when an account is created.

Our Privacy Policy sets out in full what we collect, who can see it, how long we keep it, and how to have it deleted. For any privacy question or data request, contact us using the details below.

Our website uses only the cookies it needs to work, such as the one that keeps you signed in. Page views are counted without cookies, and there are no advertising or tracking cookies. You can control cookies through your browser settings, though signing in will not work without them.

Our website may link to third-party websites and resources. MCBA does not control and is not responsible for the content, policies, or practices of those external sites.

MCBA may update these Terms at any time. Changes are effective when posted on this page, with a new effective date above. Your continued use of the website or participation in our programs after changes are posted constitutes acceptance of the updated Terms.

If a change materially affects a paid plan, we will tell members by email or on the site before it applies to them, and it applies to a subscription from its next renewal after that notice.

If you have a problem with MCBA, please email us first; most things can be settled that way.

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Maryland, without regard to its conflict-of-laws principles, and any dispute is to be heard in the state or federal courts located in Maryland. Certain relationships, such as leadership roles, sponsorships, and advertising, may also be governed by separate written agreements, which are available on request.