Businesses and college students connect at Mind the Gap

Bright Ideas on the Gulf Coast's Mind the Gap event brought together college students and businesses for a night of networking on Oct. 30.

By Shane Donglasan
| 8:42 p.m. October 30, 2018

Sarasota
Neighbors

Mind the Gap, a networking event hosted by Bright Ideas on the Gulf Coast, brought students in contact with sixty businesses Oct. 30 at Robart’s Arena.

The event drew about 200 colleges students from colleges in Sarasota and Bradenton. The first Mind the Gap was held in 2016 to provide a forum for students to communicate directly with business leaders about career opportunities in the area.

Rain Kwan, a computer science student at New College of Florida, said she came to the event to find internship opportunities and learn about companies based in the area - many of them she didn't realize existed here.

“A great awareness needs to be created about all the exciting things that are happening in this area,” said Dealers United CEO and event sponsor Pete Peterson. “We want to show students that there are so many different kinds of companies here. We also want to point out to businesses that we need to start building cultures around young energy and new talent. There is potential here that just needs to be unlocked.”