Kevin Zambrzycki Named 2016 SUNY Oneonta Intern of the Year

2016 Sep 28

Kevin Zambrzycki of Highland Mills, NY, has been named the 2016 SUNY Oneonta Intern of the Year, a new award sponsored by the Otsego County Chamber to recognize outstanding work by interns at local businesses and organizations.

Zambrzycki, a senior majoring in Business Economics, was nominated for the award by the NYS Small Business Development Center (SBDC) for his work as an intern there last year.

"The SBDC has been very fortunate to have Kevin Zambrzycki as an intern from SUNY Oneonta over the past school year," SBDC Senior Business Manager Michelle Catan wrote in a letter nominating Zambrzycki for the award. "He has a very strong work ethic, was always on time and prepared, and went above and beyond in helping the center assist the local small business community in so many ways."

After hearing about the SBDC internship through an e-mail blast to students in SUNY Oneonta's School of Economics and Business, Zambrzycki applied and got the spot. He interned during the fall 2015 and spring 2016 semesters at the SBDC office in Oneonta.

Zambrzycki worked on a variety of projects that helped the local business community, including preparing projections for clients trying to start their own businesses, developing a Facebook page for a local business owner, and creating a presentation on how the popular gaming app Pokemon Go could help a business gain new customers and increase sales. He said receiving this award made him feel that his work has positively impacted his college community.

"The most memorable project thus far has definitely been preparing a presentation that was used by a client when applying for grant funding from a state senator," he said. "I traveled to the New York State Capitol building in Albany and met Senator Seward while sitting in on the presentation."

Zambrzycki was able to work at an SBDC office in Rockland County this past summer, and he is continuing his internship at the Oneonta SBDC office this semester. He said his experience working with business owners will be valuable after graduation, when he begins a career in banking.