Salvador "Chiry" Vassallo and his three brothers founded Industrias Vassallo in Ponce, Puerto Rico, 44 years ago to supply PVC products to the local construction industry. In 1989 he bought out his brothers and became president and chairman until 2002 when he assumed the CEO's post. The 680-employee company has diversified greatly, and now not only processes various materials, but injection molds resin furniture (via the acquisition of Syroco Inc.), does compounding, blow molding and even rotomolds kayaks. With five U.S. facilities, the company today reports $180 million in annual sales.
Chiry Vassallo also established Vassallo Research & Development Corp., dedicated to quality control, research and development of new products. This company owns more than 40 patents approved for different PVC products and rubber gaskets. He earned a bachelor's degree in business from the Pontifical Catholic University in Ponce, and an honoris causa doctoral degree in business administration from the Polytechnic University. Since 2004 he has served as the vice-consul of Guatemala in Puerto Rico.