Internships for College Students One Click Away With Aid of New Website

By Molly Stazzone

Connecting students enrolled in Westchester and Putnam colleges to exciting and valuable internships got a whole lot easier with the launch of a new website last week.

Westchester County Executive Rob Astorino and Putnam County Executive MaryEllen Odell introduced the one-step web portal called the Westchester-Putnam Internship Connex Program at Regeneron Pharmaceuticals in Tarrytown on Oct. 3.

Created by the Westchester-Putnam Workforce Investment Board (WIB) with help from the Business Council of Westchester and a variety of firms in both counties, it matches students in certain fields of study and local businesses needing workers with specific skills. The Business Council, which has partnered in the past with the WIB and both counties, manages the site.

“Students will get meaningful experience in their field, make professional contacts and get paid or get college credit,” Astorino said. “The businesses will have access to highly motivated students who we hope will continue to live and work here after they graduate from college. We in Westchester call ourselves New York’s Intellectual Capital–and we intend to keep it that way, through programs such as this.”

Regeneron Vice President Peter Powchik called it an exciting day for local college students. Regeneron, which has been at the Tarrytown site since 1989 and employs about 2,100 people, has a long history of helping students land internships and jobs with the company.

“We want to thank both counties and also the Business Council of Westchester for launching this exciting program,” Powchik said. “Regeneron is all about human talent.”

The program will help students at 13 colleges get internships with more than 90 well-known outfits. College advisers and many of the participating businesses will review the students’ skills and suitability for available internships.

The concept for creating the site was first introduced by the Business Council’s Coalition for Business Development in 2011. It offers placements and allows employers and students to search by major, minor, skill set, sector, industry, profession, hours per week and duration of the internship.

“This positive connection will only serve to strengthen each of our counties and keep young talent within our business communities,” Odell said.

William McGrath, a senior vice president and chief administrative officer at Pace University who assisted in creating the program, said one of the requirements for all Pace students is to have internship experience before they graduate. With thousands of graduates from Pace and other schools working in the region, many could give motivated college students a chance to break into the workforce, he said.

Several students also spoke of their successful internships as a result of the program before it went online. Louis Garcia, a journalism student at the College of New Rochelle, was able to snag key internships at NBC and CNN. Heremela Eshetu, a business student at Berkeley College who emigrated from Ethiopia, has interned at the Business Council of Westchester.

“I have learned you need to have a great personality and be a great representative to your company,” she said. “First impressions are everything.”

To find available internships, the participating business and colleges and more information about the program, visit www.westchesterputnaminternships.com.