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Head to Head With Joe Vassallo
By: Joe Trusty - Pool Magazine
For Joe Vassallo, the path to becoming a top builder in the Las Vegas market wasn’t always a linear one.
Recalling setbacks that came with the Great Recession in 2008. “Las Vegas went through a very rough period,” said Vassallo, “where we were having more foreclosures than anyplace else in the country. In order to survive that (time period) we started doing more of the remodeling and repair work. A lot of people were probably underwater at best.”
The inability for homeowners to get full market value for their homes during the Great Recession meant that many opted to remodel their existing pool and stay in their homes. A sophomore pool company at the time, Paragon Pools was able to ride out the recession doing remodels. That was a make-or-break time period that saw many seasoned builders leave the industry. What followed would be a contraction in the industry that would last for the next five years.
Photo Credit: Paragon Pools
“The remodeling and repair business became kind of a lifeline for us and then finally we moved out of that bad time into some better times. Right now things are just going through the roof. I’ve got way more business than I can handle.”
While supply and demand issues still remain a problem, Joe Vassallo says it is a better problem to have than the one he experienced a decade ago during the Great Recession.
Joe Vassallo - President of Paragon Pools
Joe has been in the industry for decades and has seen bull markets and bear markets. We asked Vassallo if he has ever experienced anything like this and if he could predict what was coming next to which he responded, “In 30 years, I’ve never seen anything like this. I can only guess, I’m not an economics expert but I think it was a confluence of several things,” said Vassallo.
“Number one, when Covid hit, manufacturing started to dwindle,” said Vassallo, “plants were either closing or just running skeleton crews, and transportation stopped.”
“Look at the other side of that,” said Vassallo, “Mom, Dad, and the kids are home. They’ve been talking about getting a boat or something for the last few years and just never pulled the trigger. Now everybody is home and looking at an empty backyard in 100-degree weather and said ‘you know what, we can’t spend money going out to dinner or traveling on vacation, let’s spend it in the backyard.”
The paradox in how a pandemic could lead to a booming economy for the pool industry is one Vassallo feels can be explained, “Luckily everyone was still working. Most people were able to work from home given all the new technology we have. There were still those discretionary dollars available and they were able to pull the trigger.”
Photo Credit: Paragon Pools
There is another problem, however, and that is setting expectations with customers. Given the nature of the sheer influx of consumers interested in a pool versus the amount of labor and materials to actually build them, a backlog is forming. Managing those expectations to capitalize on momentum is essential during this time.
A sentiment to which Vassallo agrees, “The first thing I tell potential customers is that I’m probably not going to be able to get back to you for at least six weeks. That’s before I can even give them a design or proposal and in some cases, it’s gone further than that.”
As Paragon Pools moves into its second decade of existence, the milestone is a poignant one for Vassallo who has been slowly making the transition to take a step back. Joe Vassallo Jr. who recently was named PHTA Builder of the Year, is taking a more active role at the helm of operations for Paragon Pools. It is a point of pride for Vassallo Sr. who has been grooming his son over the last decade in preparation for handing over operations to him.
Vassallo Jr. was recently voted Builder of the Year by the PHTA at the PSP Deck Expo
“Little by little he started to get more and more involved. I don’t want to say that I pushed him that way but I did not discourage him in any way,” said Vassallo, “he started to demonstrate some talent and I helped him nurture that talent and as time went by he became one of my best designers and salespeople. Obviously, the next step was to run a company. He took to all of that and embraced it and enjoys it.”
Paragon’s reputation as an elite builder continues to grow and as a result, the jobs are getting more complicated, more over the top, and more expensive. “There was a time where we were doing maybe 150-160 pools a year. Now, it’s more like 50 or 60 but they’re much higher-end and more complicated than they were before,” said Vassallo.
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Photos: Provided by Paragon Pools
