Andrew Burger: Start-Up Star

Andrew Burger doesn't have a 4.0 grade point average. His high school counselor told him he'd never get into his first-choice college. He's never been on an honors list, or even had an internship.

What he does have is business savvy and a knack for being a valuable community leader. This year, Burger was runner up for the Holloway Prize and Innovation Final and second place at the Charles Nelson Poster Competition for his start-up idea that helps match UNH students to prospective NH employers.

Burger, a senior (with a 3.0 average) at the University of NH in Durham (his first choice school), runs EzCao.com with three friends from college. The business, which receives office space and financial support from the NH Innovation Commercialization Center (NH-ICC) in Portsmouth, provides vital communication links between students and employers to prevent a vexing problem-students leaving the state to find jobs.

We found that when we talked to New Hampshire businesses that there were in fact a lot of jobs. The money spent by New Hampshire companies to make students aware (of available jobs) is significantly less than Massachusetts companies. Because of that, the migration problem occurs, Burger says.

So Burger's website gathers UNH students in a database, listing their rsums, references and skills on the site. Through a subscription service, companies can search the database as a whole or based on specific needs, all the way down to GPA.

Andrew has a stubbornness to solving problems, says Jeremy Hitchcock, CEO of Dyn Inc. in Manchester, who has acted as a mentor to Burger and his fledgling company. From coming together with his fellow co-founders to thinking about being part of an entrepreneurial ecosystem, Andrew is a person to watch.

When he's not working on his business, Burger is busy in his community. During the last two summers, Burger has spent more than 800 hours working at the Concord Boys and Girls Club Camp. The camp has 70 kids and he tries to get to know each one, especially the most troubled youth at the camp. I am focused on being a role model for the kids who might not have a role model at home.  The difference it makes to kids, just to ask, how was your weekend?' Or how are you?' It really means a lot to them.

This tenacity, this optimism, it's his X-Factor. You can always surprise yourself, Burger says. But if you stay pessimistic, and say, oh I can't do it,' then you're never going to achieve what you hope to.