Atinitonews.com : Philippine News Feature - Ed Robles : The Heart and Soul of Robetech Institute

Ed Robles : The Heart and Soul of Robetech Institute
by Marissa Buyco-Corpus

Get a copy of Employment News or see OMNI on TV and you see their ads. The Robetech Institute Inc. School of Health Care Technology has gone along way from its humble beginnings in 1988. The school celebrated its 20th year in 2008.

Led by Ed Robles, a Medical technologist and his wife Jean, also a Med Tech, their vision was to educate and upgrade the skills of health care professionals by providing highest standard of training and most up to date equipment. Among the diploma and certificate courses currently being offered are – Medical Laboratory Technician, ECG and Phlebotomy Technician, Personal Support Worker, Live In Caregiver Course, Medical Office Assistant, Physiotherapy and occupational Therapy Assistant and other Certificate courses.
New short term courses in Reiki, Chakras, Meditation and Holistic Health are being offered to respond to the growing interest in Holistic Health Care.

Beginnings
Ed an wife Jean started the school in 1988 in a small house on the Danforth and Woodbine area in response to the lack of qualified medical technicians for the sprouting private laboratories all over the GTA. Ed being a Chief Technologist of these private laboratories found the lack of qualified staff to man the growing private laboratories that grew to the hundreds all over the GTA. Ed and Jean’s Robetech began with a start up capital of $50,000 drawn from their line of credit from their home mortgage and 15 students who they were requested to train as the school that these 15 students were enrolled in was not licensed to provide Medical Technician training. From this first group of students, the Robetech Institute experienced an astronomical increase in the number of their students ! Ed started to work and teach 7 days a week and worked very long hours to meet the growing demand from the students and the laboratories.

Very quickly, Jean’s parents pitched in and worked in their company, and they expanded and rented additional office and classroom space at nearby Greenwood Avenue. Pharmaceutical companies and laboratories requested their school to refer their graduates for employment. The school hired additional faculty and after 20 years, the school has established a name known for quality learning in the health care industry.
Overwork and Ed’s Heart

The long hours and the fast growth of the school took a toll on Ed’s health and in 1992 – 4 years after the school opened its doors, Ed suffered a heart attack. He had an angioplasty procedure that successfully allowed him to recover. This made Ed and Jean realize that he had to slow down or he would not be around to see the fruits of his labours.

Jean then took a stronger role in the running of the business and she has since taken over as President of the company in 2007 when Ed officially retired from the day to day running of the business although Ed is still the Chairman of the Board and Academic Adviser.

It is still a family run business with their children also working for the company. Daughter Jeanelle and son Shan work with Jean in the running of the family business. Ed’s brother Conrad runs the Manila schools and Jean’s mother still works in the school. Everyone contributes their share in the success of the family run business.

Philippine Operations
In 1996, Ed was constantly travelling to the Philippines mostly to visit family, relax and recuperate. Being a very active person who always had to do something, Ed brought with him ECG machines that he donated to a hospital in the north. Because he had to train the personnel running the machine, Ed was again a teacher, educator.

Realizing that there was a demand for health care training in the Philippines with the growing demand for live in caregivers for Canada, Ed decided to open a school in Manila in 1998. Ed developed a curriculum that was based on the Canadian experience and his syllabus was subsequently adapted by the Canadian Embassy as the model for the Live In Caregiver Training Course accredited by TESDA and the Canadian Embassy. Ed Robles will always be recognized as the trailblazer the development of the curriculum for the Live In Caregiver Course.

The school in Manila was so successful that Ed opened more schools all over the country. He has also opened a school recently in Beijing, China last September 2008.

Filipino Immigrant
Ed migrated to Canada in 1967 as an independent immigrant and started working at the Doctors Hospital as a Medical Technologist. After settling down in Toronto, Ed worked on sponsoring the rest of his family – his brothers Conrad, Ernie and his parents. He had a short lived marriage to a Filipina in 1968 then Ed eventually found Jean, his life partner and they were married in 1979.and blessed with 3 children. Jean is of Scottish descent and she has assimilated the entrepreneurial spirit that Ed lived and breathed all his life.

Lessons from the Entrepreneur
Ed and Jean shares some of their lessons from their 20 years in business-

Despite not having business experience when they started, when you have a passion for what you do, the path towards success is based on hard work and a strong belief in what you are doing. It is in providing quality work and focussing on the objectives and not the monetary aspect only.
Balance your life – family life is the most important component of the equation.
Follow your passion
Reinvest your earnings in the business, be state of the art to be competitive
Mistakes happen, learn from them.
Grab the opportunity when it knocks as it may not knock again.
Work with people you trust.
Do not forget your beginnings – your country the Philippines

The Robetech Institute
Its new location is impressive at a sprawling building at 150 Laird Drive and their facilities reflect the high standard and quality of education they subscribe to. Check the school out – their website is www.robetech.com or call them at 416-466-6107.

Alberta Jobs
I also returned from a business trip to Calgary, Edmonton and Grande Prairie, Alberta and we are happy to know that business is still booming in these Boom towns. Any Filipinos who have lost their jobs or are interested to relocate to Alberta may contact us in Toronto and we might be able to place them. We are also interested in truck drivers, diesel mechanics, CNC Set Up Operators, Cooks, and restaurant, food service and gas station workers who would like to move to Alberta. Employers are willing to sponsor them !

Marissa Corpus has BSBA and MBA degrees from the University of the Philippines and post graduate studies in Financial Management from the Netherlands International Institute of Management. She is Managing Director of Philippine Multimedia Productions publisher of the Filipino Telephone Guide, MBC Immigration Specialists, Servicio Filipino Internationale and a licensed immigration consultant being a FULL member of Canadian Society of Immigration Consultants and CAPIC. Her company was 2006 Philippine awardee as the Best Immigration Consultancy Specialist by the NPQEA. To contact writer, email her at mbcorpus@yahoo.com , check her website at www.mbcimmigration.ca or telephone at 416-266-3838 or 416-264-7676.