Roberto Gonzalez ’21 met Matthew Smith ’89 at a networking event during Gonzalez’s sophomore year at Bridgewater College. Gonzalez was a business major with an interest in pursuing a career in sales, and Smith was representing his family company, Smith-Midland Corporation, which manufactures precast concrete products. The two talked and Gonzalez left with some information about the company and Smith’s business card.
“He stood out,” Smith recalls of Gonzalez at that first meeting. “I talked to several students, but Roberto stood out because of his outgoing personality. We hit it off from the beginning.”
Over the next few years, the two kept in touch: Gonzalez sending updates about his studies, Smith inviting Gonzalez for a tour of the Smith-Midland plant. As graduation approached, Gonzalez launched his formal job search. As an international student, he needed to receive a job offer from a company that was willing to also sponsor him for the H-1B visa that would allow him to work in the United States. The visa application process included additional paperwork and fees and was not guaranteed to be successful. But Smith says that he was impressed enough with Gonzalez to undertake the process.
Gonzalez started at Smith-Midland shortly after graduation and his visa application was successful. He credits BC’s small-school atmosphere with helping him build the connections that led to his position as an international business development associate.
“Cultivating relationships is really important,” Gonzalez says. “Since Bridgewater is small, it makes it easier to build relationships. [The environment at BC] grows a sense of community and family.”
6/23/2025
