Kenjhy Egoavil didn’t expect to be managing one of Redmond’s newest mobile phone stores at the age of 20, but his entrepreneurial spirit has taken him to exactly that place. MetroPCS, a franchise out of Portland and subsidiary of T-Mobile, opened August 30 in the Redmond Plaza, at 1604 S. Highway 97.

“I never thought about opening a location,” Egoavil said. “But I like it and Redmond is a friendly and laid back place.”

Egoavil immigrated from Peru in 2001, when he was 3 years old. He still has family in Peru but most of his immediate family also live in Central Oregon. He said he enjoys being able to help people through setting up and using devices that perpetually connect us.

“This generation is so involved in technology, there are 10-year-olds with cell phones,” Egoavil said. “We are completely surrounded by technology.”

He works alongside Allen Povis, who owns the locations in Madras, Bend and Redmond. While he doesn’t plan to manage a cellular phone store forever, he said the experience he will gain will be invaluable. He hasn’t pinned down any specific goals for the future, but said he has looked into joining the military.

“I’m an entrepreneur,” Egoavil said. “I want to grow as a person, be better for my family, work hard and provide for my family.”

MetroPCS is scheduled to have a ribbon cutting ceremony with the Redmond Chamber of Commerce at 4 p.m. Feb. 24 at the store. Egoavil said they currently employ one other person but hope have to other employees by the end of the summer. He also said they are hiring.

The cellular phone provider is a prepaid service, which focuses on providing cellular services without a contract. Among the standard services, such as internet, texting and calls, MetroPCS also offers unlimited calls to Canada and Mexico for an additional $5. He said that service is popular with people who have family in Mexico because it is cheaper and more convenient than the standard phone cards normally used.

“They want to keep in contact with their families, and it also makes it easier to travel,” Egoavil said.

He said he has multiple customers who appreciate the convenience of the service when they travel outside of the US. They also offer the same service world wide for an additional $10.

The prepaid, no-contract services offered by Metro PCS parallel the current trend in cellular services moving away from the standard 2-year contracts.

“We don’t want to involve people in a contract,” Egoavil said.

Redmond is also home to a Consumer Cellular call center, who focus on no contract cellular services. That call center employs more than 500 people and continually hires.

“I enjoy doing this because I help other people,” Egoavil said. “And I get to meet a large variety of people, of new people, and I enjoy that.

— Reporter, 541-548-2185, cbrown@redmondspokesman.com