BOSTON, Mass. /Massachusetts Newswire/ — Intern Bridge Inc, the nation’s leading college recruiting and research firm, announced today that its founder and president, Richard Bottner, age 23, has been published on the Business Week list of the Top 25 U.S. Entrepreneurs Under 25. Intern Bridge was started in 2005 by Bottner, while he was a student at Babson College in Wellesley. After noticing a large number of companies struggling to attract and retain individuals from his own generation, Bottner conducted an independent research project to uncover recruiting gaps and build strategies based on data.
The Internship Best Practices survey was ultimately implemented on 30 New England college campuses, with over 6,000 students participating. Bottner also collected over 250 employer responses with the help of the Northeast Human Resources Association, where he was volunteering as a conference aide. The research was the foundation for Bottner’s first book “Total Internship Management: The Employer’s Guide to Building the Ultimate Internship Program” (ISBN: 978-0-9799373-9-2).
Since the publication of his book, Bottner has been touring the nation speaking at national conferences, human resources association meetings, and chamber of commerce seminars. The company has also been producing workshops for employers through strong partnerships with local universities. The highlight so far, according to Bottner, has been the program the company produced at Framingham State College this past February. “We had over 100 human resources professionals in attendance to learn about these critical talent acquisition and economic development tools,” recalls Bottner. “It reinforced the demand for the work that we’re doing, and that was very fulfilling.”
Bottner moved to Acton in 2007 after graduating from Babson. “Most of my friends moved to Boston, but I had opportunities in Acton that I could not pass up.” Bottner has been a firefighter/EMT since the age of 17 and works for the fire and police departments in Boxborough. The New Jersey native plans to stay in the Commonwealth for the long haul. “I have built many strong and exciting relationships here. Massachusetts is thriving with universities and young people, and there are so many professionals and organizations dedicated to the continual improvement of the region – I can’t imagine taking Intern Bridge anywhere else.”
Bottner has extensive plans for the company. He is currently in contact with State and local officials to create a Greater Boston Regional Internship Website. “The concept is to build a networking tool that can streamline the connections between the hundreds of thousands of college students and the employers that seek to hire them.” Bottner also recently announced the upcoming publication of three more Intern Bridge books: an internship supervisor’s resource, a guide to effectively integrating young Gen Y employees into the modern workforce, and an internship management guide customized for employers in the restaurant and hospitality industries.
Bottner is also planning workshops in Miami, Columbus, Dallas, and Philadelphia, and several online seminars. The company’s annual internship survey launched this week and will ultimately be distributed at over 400 U.S. universities, representing more than 2 million students, an over 1,200% increase from when the company first started conducting research three years ago.
“The most exciting part of being at the helm of Intern Bridge is knowing that we enter uncharted territory almost every day. There are very few organizations that provide the types of services that we do. As a young company, it would have been nice to have a larger organization to compare ourselves to. But lacking that opportunity is part of what of fuels my passion to reach our goal – improving internships nationwide,” says Bottner.
As the company continues to expand nationally, Bottner hopes to one day hit the road and produce his acclaimed workshops to every metropolitan area in the nation.
He adds, “These programs can have a tremendously positive impact on an economic region and an organization’s bottom line. Ultimately, Intern Bridge offers critical products, services, and data to complement, and support the Gen Y attraction and retention initiatives of for-profits, not-for-profits, and government agencies. That’s what we’re all about.”
