Salvador V. Vassallo (24 March 1942 – 21 January 2007) was the
president
President most commonly refers to:
*President (corporate title)
* President (education), a leader of a college or university
* President (government title)
President may also refer to:
Automobiles
* Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...
and
CEO of
Vassallo Industries,
headquartered
Headquarters (commonly referred to as HQ) denotes the location where most, if not all, of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. In the United States, the corporate headquarters represents the entity at the center or the top ...
in
Ponce, Puerto Rico
Ponce (, , , ) is both a city and a municipality on the southern coast of Puerto Rico. The city is the seat of the municipal government.
Ponce, Puerto Rico's most populated city outside the San Juan metropolitan area, was founded on 12 August 1 ...
. The company produces
PVC injection moulded and extruded goods, and markets them worldwide.
Early years
Vassallo (birth name: Salvador V. Vassallo Ruiz
), grandparents migrated from
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
in the late 19th century and settled in the town of
Yauco
Yauco () is a town and municipality in southern Puerto Rico. Although the downtown is inland, the municipality stretches to a southern coast facing the Caribbean Sea. Yauco is located south of Maricao, Lares and Adjuntas; east of Sabana G ...
. Vassallo, nicknamed "Chiry", and his brothers were born in
Yauco
Yauco () is a town and municipality in southern Puerto Rico. Although the downtown is inland, the municipality stretches to a southern coast facing the Caribbean Sea. Yauco is located south of Maricao, Lares and Adjuntas; east of Sabana G ...
and raised in the city of
Ponce where their father, Salvador Vassallo Sr., opened a
hardware store.
After school hours, Vassallo and his brothers, Efraín, Víctor, Félix, and Marcos, would work in the family business. Salvador Vassallo Sr. founded Vassallo Industries, Inc., a company which initially made only windows and cement blocks.
[Profile](_blank)
, PuertoRico-herald.org; accessed 2 June 2016.
Salvador joins family business
After Vassallo graduated from college, he went to work in as a salesman for his father's business. Traveling throughout Puerto Rico taking orders from established customers, he made new contacts with potential customers. These skills would serve him well when Vassallo and his brothers inherited the business. In the 1950s, Vassallo's brother Efrain David, an engineer and the oldest of the Vassallo brothers, saw the potential in
plastic
Plastics are a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic materials that use polymers as a main ingredient. Their plasticity makes it possible for plastics to be moulded, extruded or pressed into solid objects of various shapes. This adaptab ...
.
Vassallo Industries Inc.
As a consequence of Efrain's vision, in 1962 Vassallo Industries Inc. pioneered the manufacture and distribution of plastic pipe and fittings for sanitary and electrical applications. In 1972, Salvador Vassallo Sr. died and the company was inherited by his sons. Efrain David was President and Chief Executive Officer of Vassallo Industries Inc. from 1978-89. During those 11 years the firm had a net profit of over $25 million, as audited by Deloitte, Haskins & Sells, 1978-89.
In 1989, Efrain David sold his interest in Vassallo Industries and all his patents to his brothers, and joined son Efrain David Jr., in the development of the Puerto Rican marble industry. Vassallo Industries, Inc., named Salvador as its president, and the company grew to become a global leader in the manufacture of PVC. Today, it has strong brand recognition in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
and
Latin-America.
In the 1980s Vassallo opened a distribution Center in
Miami, Florida
Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...
, to speed up order fulfillment and cut costs.
Vassallo Molding Company and other ventures
In 1989 Salvador bought out his brothers and became president and chairman, assuming the
CEO post in 2002. In the 1990s Vassallo founded Vassallo Molding Company for the manufacture of plastic furniture and household goods. In 1997,
Home Depot
The Home Depot, Inc., is an American multinational home improvement retail corporation that sells tools, construction products, appliances, and services, including fuel and transportation rentals. Home Depot is the largest home improvement r ...
became a client in addition to
Kmart
Kmart Corporation ( , doing business as Kmart and stylized as kmart) is an American retail company that owns a chain of big box department stores. The company is headquartered in Hoffman Estates, Illinois, United States.
The company was inc ...
and
Wal-Mart
Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores from the United States, headquarter ...
.
[Vasallo Industries buys plastics manufacturer Syroco Inc.](_blank)
/ref> The company added a research and development division to its growing empire, with emphasis on quality control. The company now has over forty patent
A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A ...
s for different PVC products.[Vassallo rolls with the punches to grow.(Vassallo Industries Inc.)](_blank)
/ref>
In January 2000, Efrain Vassallo (the only Puerto Rican named National Small Businessman of the Year n 1996 to date) rejoined his brother in Vassallo Industries Inc as a consultant. In 2003, Vassallo Industries Inc. invested $15 million in the expansion of its facility in Ponce, in an effort to produce Polyvinyl Chloride pellets for distribution in the United States, Caribbean and Latin America
Latin America or
* french: Amérique Latine, link=no
* ht, Amerik Latin, link=no
* pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...
.
In 2004, Vassallo Industries Inc. acquired Syroco Inc., a plastics manufacturer, adding manufacturing operations in California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
, New York, and Arkansas
Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the O ...
. Syroco is one of the most prominent manufacturers of plastic furniture and wall decor in the United States. By acquiring Syroco, Vassallo Industries Inc. added Target
Target may refer to:
Physical items
* Shooting target, used in marksmanship training and various shooting sports
** Bullseye (target), the goal one for which one aims in many of these sports
** Aiming point, in field artillery, f ...
, Sam's Club
Sam's West, Inc. (doing business as Sam's Club) is an American chain of membership-only retail warehouse clubs owned and operated by Walmart Inc., founded in 1983 and named after Walmart founder Sam Walton as Sam’s Wholesale Club. , Sam's C ...
, Lowe's and Walgreens
Walgreen Company, d/b/a Walgreens, is an American company that operates the second-largest pharmacy store chain in the United States behind CVS Health. It specializes in filling prescriptions, health and wellness products, health information, a ...
to its clientele.
Among the many products manufactured by the company founded by Salvador Vassallo are the following: fittings, flexible conduit, flower pots, leaf rakes, step stones, water tanks, pipes, PVC cement, kayaks and water floats. The company produces plastic furniture under the brand Signature Series Line.
Later years
Vassallo's son, Rafael Vassallo, was named the president of Vassallo Industries Inc. and executive vice president of Syroco Inc. Salvador Vassallo continued to be the CEO of the company and president of the Export Council of Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...
. His nephew, Jesse
Jesse may refer to:
People and fictional characters
* Jesse (biblical figure), father of David in the Bible.
* Jesse (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters
* Jesse (surname), a list of people
Music
* ''Jesse'' ( ...
, (Victor's son), a swimmer, has continued the family tradition by establishing "Vassallo Unlimited".
Death
On 21 January 2007, Salvador Vassallo died in the Hospital San Cristóbal in Ponce from a heart attack
A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...
. He was buried in Las Mercedes Cemetery, and was survived by his wife Olga and two children, Rafael and Viviana.
The Mayor
In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well ...
of Ponce, Francisco Zayas Seijo
Francisco R. Zayas Seijo, also known as Ico (born 4 October 1951), is a former member of the Puerto Rico House of Representatives and mayor of the city of Ponce, Puerto Rico. During his 4-year mayoral term, Zayas Seijo established the Mariana ...
, declared three days of mourning and ordered the flags at Ponce's City Hall to be flown at half mast.Obituary
goliath.ecnext.com; accessed 2 June 2016.
See also
* List of Puerto Ricans
Notes
References
External links
Syroco
Puerto Rico Herald
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vassallo, Salvador
1942 births
2007 deaths
Burials at Cementerio Las Mercedes
20th-century Puerto Rican businesspeople
Puerto Rican people of Italian descent
Industrialists from Ponce