Business students become Certified Global Business Professionals

Mariah Carna, a senior International Business major, Joseph Scott, a senior Accounting major, and alumna Ellen Chittester, ‘17 with majors in International Business and Italian, recently passed the Certified Global Business Professionals exam.

The CGBP is a national certification issued by the National Association for Small Business International Trade Educators and a prestigious acknowledgment of international business expertise in management, marketing, supply-chain management, and trade finance. The exam is offered to those YSU students who participated in the Ohio Export Internship Program or the Special Topic Exporting course.

The CGBP credential sets the benchmark for global trade knowledge and CGBP certification shows that an individual has the knowledge required to be a successful global commerce professional. Certification allows professionals in international trade to demonstrate that they have achieved a fundamental understanding of international trade and business. Major employers throughout the U.S. have started using the CGBP as a way to judge a potential employee’s international business competency.

Students who pass the certification exam are fully reimbursed the cost of the exam by the Office of the Dean in the Williamson College of Business Administration.

Carna, of New Wilmington, Pa., is currently seving as a Beeghly Fellow at the Ohio SBDC Export Assistance Network at YSU. This past summer, she completed the Ohio Export Internship Program where she worked as an export specialist for Haltec Corporation. Previously, she studied abroad in London and also participated in the Disney College Program. Upon graduation in May of 2018, she plans to continue in the international business field.

Scott, of Cortland, Ohio, currently works at YSU’s Honors College as a student assistant outside of taking classes and working at Eastgate Regional Council of Governments as an accounting intern. Recently, he was part of the 2017 YSU Cohort of the Ohio Export Internship Program in which he interned for Sakamura U.S.A., in Marion, Ohio, writing an export compliance manual and assisting with tariff classifications for some of the company’s shipments. Upon graduation, he intends to pursue a career in international business.

Chittester, of Reynoldsville, Pa., is an International Business Consultant for the Ohio Small Business Development Center at Youngstown State University, where she is leveraging her background to consult small to mid-sized companies who are looking to export, expand their international reach and grow their business potential. Chittester was previously a Beeghly Fellow for the Ohio SBDC Export Assistance Network at YSU. This past summer she completed the Ohio Export Internship Program, where she was paired with Columbiana Boiler Company as a specialist in exporting. She has experience working with market research, product development, and export compliance.