{"id":216940,"date":"2026-04-28T13:14:20","date_gmt":"2026-04-28T17:14:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/?p=216940"},"modified":"2026-04-28T13:14:20","modified_gmt":"2026-04-28T17:14:20","slug":"giving-back-is-second-nature-to-entrepreneur-edwin-feliciano-82","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/2026\/04\/28\/giving-back-is-second-nature-to-entrepreneur-edwin-feliciano-82\/","title":{"rendered":"Giving Back is Second Nature to Entrepreneur Edwin Feliciano \u201982"},"content":{"rendered":"

Edwin Feliciano \u201982 got his first business lessons at his father\u2019s side. \u201cMy dad had a little variety storefront in Passaic,\u201d he reminisces. \u201cWhen I was five or six years old, he would take me to Mulberry Street in New York to purchase items for the store. My job was to keep quiet and listen while he negotiated with his suppliers.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The elder Feliciano was committed to preparing his son for the real world. \u201cWe didn\u2019t have a lot of money, but somehow he managed to buy a cold water flat in Passaic,\u201d Feliciano says of his father. \u201cIt had seven or eight units, and he had to do most of the upkeep. One day, he told me that it was my lucky day \u2013 that I would go in alone to collect the rent. I was only 13, but he wanted to be sure that I could take care of things if something ever happened to him.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Feliciano\u2019s parents also taught him the importance of giving back to the community. \u201cBoth of my parents volunteered at our church,\u201d he says. \u201cDad was always ready to help someone find a job when they needed it. My mom taught Sunday school. We were always encouraged to invite friends over for Sunday dinner \u2013 some days I think she fed half the neighborhood! They taught me how to work hard and how to give generously.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

A wrestling scholarship at West Chester University sent Feliciano out of state for college, but not for long. \u201cI wanted to be close to home,\u201d he says. He took a break from school and six months later he enrolled at Montclair, leaning into full-time study alongside full-time work.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMontclair was so different then,\u201d he recalls. \u201cThere were maybe 400 students in the entire business program. My classes always seemed to be on the top floor of Partridge Hall. When the elevator wasn\u2019t working \u2013 which was often \u2013 it was a challenge to get to class on time.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In 1982, he graduated with a B.S. in Business Administration.<\/span><\/p>\n

Feliciano tried corporate life, with jobs at companies like Goya Foods and Richter Brothers, Inc., but he wasn\u2019t cut out to work for others. By the time he was 23 Feliciano had purchased his first investment property and earned licenses to sell, appraise, and broker real estate. By 30, he was married to the love of his life, Mimi. The pair began working on a shared vision of the future. \u201cMimi is wonderful,\u201d he says. \u201cWe balance each other out. We make a good team. Together we started building something of our own.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In 2001, the <\/span>couple took over the Lincoln Park Healthcare Center, a family-owned company, and built it into an industry frontrunner in short-term rehabilitation care. \u201cThere was definitely a learning curve,\u201d he says. They introduced the JDT Medical Rehabilitation Center and Villa, a new model in health care facility design, which not only transformed short-term rehabilitation care in New Jersey but also set a new national standard of excellence. In 2012, they sold JDT and established FEM Real Estate LLC, which owns, manages and invests in commercial real estate throughout the United States.<\/span><\/p>\n

While expanding on his parents\u2019 lessons in business, the Felicianos also expanded on his family\u2019s tradition of generosity \u2013 which has long included support for Montclair. In 2012, the couple established <\/span>the Feliciano Center for Entrepreneurship at Montclair State University<\/span>. Their philanthropy was recognized twice that year,<\/span> at the Chilton Medical Center Foundation Gala and with the University\u2019s Carpe Diem Award. In 2015 the ribbon was cut on the new School of Business building. The School was officially renamed in their honor.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

They are generous with their time as well, with Mimi serving as a member of the Feliciano School of Business Advisory Board and Edwin sharing his wisdom as a guest lecturer. \u201cI teach students about the realities of owning a business,\u201d he says.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Feliciano has also been busy merging his two passions: education and faith. He has already seen to the building of three facilities in Guatemala, including a church in the western side of the country that includes 12 classrooms as well as a mezzanine that seats 1,000, another church on the outskirts of the jungle to the east, and a community and medical center. \u201cI provide the funding and the residents provide the craftsmanship,\u201d he says.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

With those projects well underway, he is turning his attention to education there. \u201cGuatemalan schools generally stop at the sixth grade,\u201d he explains. \u201cI want to change that. My goal, my vision, is to provide local access to a Montclair education.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

When Feliciano is speaking with students, he often refers to what he calls the \u201cTen Essential Vitamins of Life.\u201d They are his tips to attaining joy and, as you might imagine, hard work and giving back are high on the list. \u201cBe present, get involved, practice contentment,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd keep moving forward.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

He also encourages students \u2013 and fellow alumni \u2013 to support their alma mater. \u201cDon\u2019t forget where you came from once you become successful,\u201d he advises. \u201cMontclair gave us an outstanding education and helped us create a solid foundation for our careers, and for our lives. It is important to give back to support the next generation. So many of our students rely on financial aid. Our contributions make a real difference in their lives.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Edwin Feliciano \u201982, Feliciano School of Business namesake, Mimi and Edwin Feliciano Center for Entrepreneurship co-founder and 2012 Carpe Diem Award recipient, recognizes a good opportunity when he sees it. That sensibility extends to his philanthropy, which is just as entrepreneurial in nature. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":493,"featured_media":216943,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-216940","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-76_alumni-news-and-events","category-77_alumni-spotlight"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216940","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/493"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=216940"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216940\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":216945,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/216940\/revisions\/216945"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/216943"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=216940"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=216940"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.montclair.edu\/alumni\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=216940"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}