By Elisabeth Costanzo Stewart
Audrey Horton (BUBA ’22) has always believed in the power of a good match. As a rising star in the human resources (HR) world, Horton spends her days connecting people with professions, and building enthusiasm in the workplace. Her own career has been a series of perfect fits, but she’s quick to credit the first — and best — match that started it all: Horton and SUNY Broome.
As a Southern Tier native, SUNY Broome was always on Horton’s radar. Her first brush with the community’s college came by way of Johnson City High School’s partnership with the Fast Forward program. Horton was happy to bank college credits as a high school student, but admittedly had a different vision for her college years. She always hoped to leave the area to pursue her degree, but her plans changed with the new realities of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Coming to SUNY Broome was a last-minute blessing in disguise,” Horton reflected. “Though it was technically my plan B, it would have been crazy not to earn my degree at SUNY Broome. Tuition was affordable, I could live at home, and I graduated early with minimal debt.”
One perk of going to college in her backyard? She could keep her part-time job at Wegmans. It was at Wegmans, while bouncing between her duties in floral, Meals2Go, and the front end, that Horton got her first exposure to the inner workings of an organization’s human resources department. She had a front row seat to experiencing the employee lifecycle in action at a company that consistently lands on the top of Fortune’s 100 Best Companies to Work For list.
Horton enrolled in the Business Administration: A.S. program and kicked off her degree with Financial Accounting I at 8 a.m. In the midst of early-morning lectures on asset, liability, and equity accounting, she bonded with three fellow classmates. As a way to stay connected who would together join SUNY Broome’s Business Club.
A beloved campus organization with a long and vibrant legacy, the Business Club is open to any student with an interest in entrepreneurship, networking, and leadership. Led by business faculty Joanna Burd, Dr. Lee Heron, and Colleen Regan, the club hosts a workshop series, engages in community service, and plans educational excursions across the country. Elected as club secretary, Horton assumed her role with consummate professionalism, managing the minutes, coordinating the rotation of guest speakers, leading fundraising initiatives, and reigniting the group’s social media presence.
Horton, a proud young alum, never hesitates to return to her alma mater! Photo Credit: Matt Ebbers
What Horton didn’t know then was that joining the Business Club would spark a series of interconnected opportunities and networks that would propel the next five years of her professional and personal life. An internship with Modern Marketing Concepts, Inc. (now Linqd), advertised in a club meeting, led her to a community event, where she met her future mentor, Sandy Jones, owner of Express Employment Professionals.
“During my internship, I met Sandy at a high school business plan competition where she was a student advisor, and I was a volunteer,” Horton explained. “We instantly connected over our shared interest in HR and recruiting. When the Business Club reconvened in the fall semester, Sandy was the first person I called to be a featured speaker. I had no idea that one day she would be my future boss!”
Horton graduated from SUNY Broome with high honors and continued her business studies at SUNY Polytechnic Institute. Her status as a transfer student didn’t deter her from getting involved. She was a Student Ambassador in the Admissions Office, served as a student assistant for the College’s HR team, and even created a carbon copy of a SUNY Broome-esque Business Club.
Horton secured subsequent internships with the Binghamton and Utica branches of Express Employment Professionals. While finishing her degree, she worked as a recruiting and employment specialist intern, learning the art of recruiting, interviewing, and matching job seekers to their ideal employers. When Horton returned to Binghamton for her senior year spring break, she was officially offered a job with Express Employment Professionals upon graduation.
What’s the best way to celebrate earning a bachelor’s degree and immediately landing a dream job in your field? Obviously, tour Italy with your SUNY Broome Business Club besties!
“I made so many life-long friendships at SUNY Broome with both my classmates and my professors.” Horton beamed. “Going to Italy has always been on my bucket list, especially with friends. I was so excited to join some of my former club-mates and faculty to tour Rome, Florence, Naples, Tuscany, and all of the Amalfi Coast. It was the trip of a lifetime.”
After two years as a Senior Employment Specialist at Express, Horton recently embarked on a new professional journey at United Health Services (UHS) as a Provider Recruitment Coordinator. In this role, she supports the recruitment and hiring of physicians and medical students to join the UHS team, who, in turn, will supply the region with quality medical care. When not at UHS, the proud young alum never hesitates to return to her alma mater, and specifically to her cherished Business Club, to mentor the next wave of rising talent.
Learn more about SUNY Broome’s Business Club!
Tags: Alumni, Business and Professional Studies Division, Business: Business Administration AS, Profile, Student Activities, SUNY Broome Foundation, Women's History Month
