Vahe Karapetyan – the Food Truck Man
In 1968 a 28 year old Armenian man immigrated to the United States from Soviet Armenia. After a while he began working for an air conditioning company. He didn’t speak English yet but he had an idea and he asked his boss to allow him to experiment on one truck in the back yard. In 5 months he had built the first food truck that could be mass produced and make food on-the-go safely and efficiently. He soon had 5 orders and then many more. This is Vahe Karapetyan – the Food Truck Man, who still goes to the office and works hard every day even though he is more than 80 years old.
In 1985 Vahe established Vahe Enterprizes, Inc. which grew to the size that requires 90 staff members. Vahe Karapetian was born in Lebanon in 1941 and immigrated to Soviet Armenia with his family when he was 5 years old. Those were hard times and he feels that is what shaped him. He was 16 years old when his father died. He got a job to support his family and at night he studied engineering at the Yerevan Polytechnic Institute. Eleven years later he immigrated to the U.S.
Vahe Enterprises designs and manufactures food trucks. During the 1970’s food trucks served a simple lunch such as sandwiches to factory workers outside of their plants. His custom-made trucks made it possible for any type of food to be produced anywhere . His trucks have made it possible for a chef to take his menu to the streets. He is very proud of his biggest accomplishment which is to help other immigrant-owned companies succeed – like King Taco, by going on wheels and expanding their clientele.
Vahe leased a food truck to the USC Institute for Armenian Studies for a project called “My Armenian Story” – an oral history project to record, gather and document individual stories about the Armenians of Southern California.
Along with growing his company Vahe has also been busy in the community, especially the Armenian community by funding schools, churches and cultural centers. He built a factory in Armenia to create catering trucks in Europe and the Middle East. When war broke out in 2020 in Nagorno Karabagh the plan changed and the trucks were turned into mobile emergency rooms to help heal the wounded. For his latest contribution he leased a food truck to the USC Institute for Armenian Studies for a project called “My Armenian Story” – an oral history project to record, gather and document individual stories about the Armenians of Southern California.
Throughout his life Vahe has accomplished more than most and been rewarded many times for his good deeds. In 2015 he was awarded the Ellis Island Medal of Honor which “recognizes individuals who have made it their mission to share with those less fortunate their wealth of knowledge, indomitable courage, boundless compassion, unique talents and selfless generosity”. One of his latest gifts went to the AGBU Vahe Karapetyan Center in Yerevan which serves as a key residence hall for Diaspora youth visiting Armenia.
“Only this country gives you opportunity. Achieve whatever you can achieve!”