![COMMUNITY RESOURCE: Oscar Mejias, center, founder of HITEP, a vocational preparatory training school for Hispanics, is seen with graduates, from left, Jennifer Sanchez, Sandra Garcia, Marta Lopez and Bianca Garcia. / PBN PHOTO/TRACY JENKINS COMMUNITY RESOURCE: Oscar Mejias, center, founder of HITEP, a vocational preparatory training school for Hispanics, is seen with graduates, from left, Jennifer Sanchez, Sandra Garcia, Marta Lopez and Bianca Garcia. / PBN PHOTO/TRACY JENKINS](https://assets.pbn.com/uploads/2016/05/1463675019_e002-696x487.jpg)
A native of Venezuela, Oscar Mejias immigrated to the United States in 2003.
Only four years later, during the buildup to the Great Recession, Mejias had laid the foundation for HITEP, which stands for Hispanic Technology & Education Programs.
In late 2006 Mejias, founder and CEO of the vocational preparatory training school, was teaching computer-skills classes to a small number of students. But a year later, demand would increase exponentially.
“When the economic crisis hit the U.S. a lot of factories in Rhode Island closed. There were so many workers, most of them Hispanic, who were out of work and in the streets,” with no hope of regaining employment, he recalled.
Mejias said he found that the local Hispanic community, “most of whom had been working for more than 10 years in factories, had no knowledge of technology.”
Yet, basic jobs in today’s market, explained Mejias, involve computer skills and technology know-how.
So Mejias began enrolling the unemployed factory workers in his classes.
“I detected the need in the community… and, for me, this is very important work because I know the culture, I live the culture. I know how difficult the language barrier can be,” he said.
“When I realized that it was very difficult for them to find jobs … I knew they would need more than just computer-based skills. I made the decision to create the customer- service program and prepare them for work in retail too,” he said.
In addition, Mejias opened a bilingual certified nursing assistant training program in 2011, after reading a 2010 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics report that predicted a growing need for Spanish-English bilingual CNAs.
He knew this program would be yet another avenue to employment and an “invaluable resource” to the community, he said.
HITEP’s CNA school has graduated more than 1,000 students in the past five years and “at 75 percent we have one of the highest placement rates in Rhode Island,” Mejias said.
As the company prepares to celebrate 10 years in business, it is apparent that Mejias’ decision to diversify HITEP’s offerings was the key to its success.
In 2015 HITEP was recognized by the White House Initiative on Educational Excellence for Hispanics as a “Bright Spot in Hispanic Education.” The vocational school was the sole Rhode Island-based company recognized. In addition, HITEP won the 2015 SBA minority-owned business of the year in Rhode Island and New England award.
Today, HITEP runs a business school in Pawtucket and the CNA training program in Providence. It is looking to expand its services to New Haven, Conn., by the end of the year.
Even as HITEP looks to expand, Mejias still finds time to give back to the community he has spent a decade nurturing and rebuilding. Last year he served as the co-chairperson of the Rhode Island SBA Emerging Markets Committee at the organization’s 2015 Economic Summit.
The opportunity, he said, not only allowed him to represent HITEP, but “but advocate for other small businesses in Rhode Island [as well].” •