Paul DiCaprio, former President of Specialty Silicone Products (SSP), has retired after a distinguished 21-year career with our company. Paul joined SSP in June 2005 and oversaw several facility expansions, major investments in equipment, and dramatic growth in both the advanced materials and laboratory products sides of our business. Thanks to Paul’s leadership and mentorship, SSP has talented team, strong capabilities, and a bright future.
A native of Amsterdam, New York, Paul graduated from Sienna University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing in 1981. He then joined GE Silicones (now Momentive) and succeeded in progressively challenging roles across sales, marketing, customer service, and product management. Later, Paul joined Quantum Silicones (now CHT USA) as its East Region Sales Manager. In June 2005, he joined Specialty Silicone Products and became president several years later.
Under Paul’s leadership, SSP completed two major facility expansions in less than five years. The second, a 25,000 sq. ft. addition, increased the size of SSP’s manufacturing footprint by approximately 50%. During Paul’s tenure, SSP also purchased industrial mixers, compounding equipment, calenders, and converting and cutting equipment. These capital investments helped make SSP a trusted single-source supplier to the defense, aerospace, and electronics industries.
Leadership and Mentorship
Yet Paul DiCaprio’s legacy isn’t just about buildings, equipment, and the bottom line. Paul hired a talented team, including Adam Stiles, who is now SSP’s President and Chief Operating Officer (COO). When SSP was acquired by HEICO Corporation in November 2018, Paul continued to serve us well as SSP transitioned to becoming a wholly-owned subsidiary of a highly-successful defense, aerospace, and electronics conglomerate.
Throughout his 21 years as SSP’s president, Paul’s concern for his employees was a distinguishing feature of his career. He invested in employee safety, regularly spoke with employees, and fostered a family-like atmosphere that’s uncommon at fast-growing companies. He also mentored the next generation of talent, including Dominic Testo, who now serves as SSP’s Business Development Manager for Advanced Materials.
“There really is no replacing him”, Dominic says of Paul. “He was a game-changer who diversified the business and took SSP global. On top of his leadership and success at more than tripling revenue, he’s just an all-around great person. Paul is the kind of guy who always took time to walk the plant and the office to genuinely check in on his entire team. That’s no easy task with up to 100 employees”.
Specialty Silicone Products thanks Paul DiCaprio for his dedicated and distinguished service. Please join us in wishing him all the best in retirement!
