Coahoma student places eighth in national business communications competition

Karmese Leflore carried Coahoma Community College’s business-skills pipeline from Hattiesburg to Las Vegas and came home with an eighth-place finish in Business Communications. Her result at the 2026 Future Business Leaders of America Collegiate National Leadership Conference put a Clarksdale student among the top 10 collegiate competitors in the country.

The national conference ran June 6-8 at Westgate Las Vegas in Las Vegas, Nevada, where collegiate FBLA members competed in leadership events built to mirror the workplace. FBLA says those contests are designed to let students apply classroom knowledge in simulated professional settings and receive feedback from business professionals. In Business Communication, students are tested on written, digital and workplace communication skills through a production test, making the category especially relevant for employers looking for people who can write clearly, present ideas and handle professional correspondence.

Leflore earned her spot in Las Vegas by winning first place in Business Communication at the Mississippi FBLA State Leadership Conference on the campus of the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg from Feb. 25-27. That state title followed a 2025 run in which she placed third in Business Communication at the Mississippi state competition in Biloxi, and only the top three finishers advanced to nationals that year. Her climb from third in 2025 to first in 2026, then to eighth nationally, showed a steady progression through one of the college’s strongest career-preparation pathways.

Coahoma instructor and FBLA advisor Kimberly Hollins said Leflore worked extremely hard to prepare for the national competition and praised her dedication, perseverance and commitment to excellence. The college’s national write-up said that kind of preparation mattered because Leflore was not simply handed a national stage. She qualified through a state win, then held her own against a deeper field of business students from across the country.

The result also fits a broader workforce story for Cleveland County and the Mississippi Delta. Leflore graduated from Coahoma in May with an Associate of Applied Science degree in Administrative Professional Technology and plans to continue at Coahoma in the fall as a Healthcare Data Technology major. For students watching from Clarksdale and employers across the region, her finish shows how community-college business programs can build practical skills, open doors to professional careers and keep local talent moving forward at home.