Business

Zeal reopens at temporary location

A group of staff and management at Zeal Technological Institute sit at a table in a large room interviewing a prospective student.

It is not unusual for them to speak with future students for classes that are set to begin in less than two weeks. What was different was the location.

Zeal has moved to a temporary location in an office building at 3434 Hancock Bridge Parkway until their permanent location at 4940 Bayline Drive can be repaired following Hurricane Ian.

Sylvia Dorisme, owner of Zeal, said it was a tough transition in a short period of time, especially since many of the staff and students lost everything in the storm. But they are ready to roll.

"Like many small businesses, we had to make an emergency move to a temporary location. We're excited to still be in North Fort Myers because this where we want to be, the only technical school here," Dorisme said.

The school shut down for several weeks as they couldn't hold classes at the Bayline location. Some students learned online, but others had to wait until the Hancock location was ready because it wasn't set up to be a school.

The biggest challenge was resuming classes and getting all the licenses and permits needed for the new location. Once that was done, they started new enrollment for classes in all its programs that begin on Jan. 9.

Dorisme said one of the most popular classes to enroll in is medical assistant, which has a great demand.

"We've partnered with some organizations and our goal is to train 50 to 100 medical assistants in 2023," Dorisme said. "We've already had 75 inquiries for the new year."

Zeal is working with companies like Career Source and Future Maker to get the funding to help students go to school for next to nothing, Dorisme said.

Dorisme said Zeal will stay at Hancock Bridge Parkway indefinitely until the old building, which Zeal rents, is ready to move back into, adding she is more concerned about the success of her students and them returning to school to get their degrees.

"We want to continue our mission in this community, by providing affordable, short-term career programs in the medical field," Dorisme said. "We're blessed to be able to do that."

Open enrollment has been going on all month and while it was slow at first, it is getting back to normal. People are ready to change careers after losing their job on Fort Myers Beach or anywhere severely impacted by the storm, Dorisme said.

Besides medical assistant, there are also programs for mental health technician, medical administration assistant, phlebotomist, home health aide, patient care technician and much more.

Zeal, which opened in 2009, has gradated more than 6,000 people in the past six years.

For more information, visit zealtechnicalinstitute.com or call 214-0717.