Manuel Díaz Corrada, a corporate attorney and engineer by training, left Puerto Rico at age 18 to pursue his studies with a clear vision: “How can I prepare myself to return to Puerto Rico as an entrepreneur?”

On November 30, 2025, after accumulating 13 years of experience through his studies and positions at companies such as Raytheon, Intel, Texas Instruments, Lenovo, and the law firm Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, he fulfilled that goal by acquiring the well-known firm Bonneville Contracting and Technology Group.

“Whether as a cybersecurity researcher, semiconductor designer, or attorney, all of those experiences were directed toward returning to Puerto Rico with more training and greater capacity to bring new ideas and initiatives, because in Puerto Rico we have the ability to accomplish a great deal,” Díaz Corrada said in an interview with Negocios.

Díaz Corrada shared that the transaction came together after more than two years of asking friends, family members, and professional contacts to keep him in mind if they learned of an opportunity to acquire an operating business.

“I was beginning to worry that I had been away for too long, and I wanted to come back”, admitted the 32-year-old entrepreneur.

With that concern in mind, he maximized his hybrid work schedule to travel frequently to the island and explore a wide range of opportunities, from quarries to medical supply companies.

A relative connected him with Bonneville founder Stephen Spears, who was quietly looking for “someone new to come in with more energy and the motivation to continue building the company he started when he was 34 years old,” Díaz Corrada explained.

The former president of the Puerto Rico chapter of the General Contractors Association had two conditions: no rushing the process and no unsettling employees.

“I trusted him when he told me, ‘Look, my management team is solid, the company is solid, and the numbers prove it, but I don’t want to confuse my employees with something that may not happen.’ So I trusted his word”, said the graduate of Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pennsylvania, among others. “We were so respectful of the process that I never actually saw the company before buying it”.

The acquisition price was not disclosed. The deal included machinery, inventory, vehicles, ongoing contracts, the entity through which the company operates in the U.S. Virgin Islands, and its workforce.

The staff—primarily made up of technical personnel—has grown by 20% since the acquisition, and the company still has open positions to fill.

“We now have 109 employees. That’s a lot of people. Thankfully, we’ve been able to achieve that growth. I joined the organization when it had 91 employees”, he explained.

Regarding future expansion plans, Díaz Corrada said he is working to reactivate operations in the U.S. Virgin Islands, which at one point represented between 40% and 50% of the company’s business volume.

“It’s one of my growth initiatives, both to diversify and to export the expertise we have here in Puerto Rico”.

He also plans to expand the company’s cybersecurity and managed technology services division.

“In Puerto Rico, there is an opportunity, especially because of the regulatory environment, where there are requirements that many businesses may not fully understand or may not be complying with,” he added.

The president of Bonneville stated that the company is targeting annual revenue growth of 15% to 20%, a pace it has maintained over the past three years.

Díaz Corrada emphasized that these projections are supported by the management team’s extensive experience.

“I think there is always some tension when a new owner arrives, and the management team has supported me and taught me a great deal. I still have so much more to learn. I have a lot of learning ahead of me!”.

He also highlighted the valuable guidance he continues to receive from Spears.

“He is an excellent mentor, with more experience in this company than I’ve been alive. I’m very grateful”.

In a written statement, Spears said, “Bonneville’s legacy and Manuel’s vision come together to ensure another 40 years of success and to allow employees to grow alongside the company.”

During a tour of the approximately three-acre site where Bonneville operates, Díaz Corrada shared that he reached an agreement with Spears to purchase the property as soon as it becomes financially feasible.

And, unlike the saying “the shoemaker’s children go barefoot,” Díaz Corrada pointed out that the fully fenced property is equipped with the same high-quality security systems and continuity solutions that the company provides to its clients.

In addition to administrative offices, the facility includes a training area for apprentice electricians and network technicians, warehouses, storage containers, a fuel station for company vehicles, and maintenance bays that provide complete mechanical and repair services for the fleet.

“We have seven mechanics”, he noted, illustrating the extensive maintenance demands associated with operating bucket trucks capable of reaching heights of up to 80 feet, crane and drilling trucks, excavators, and a portable concrete mixer.

“Because we work on projects at 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning, concrete suppliers can’t always meet our needs”, he explained.

The site also includes modular offices for the technology services team, which the company plans to expand as that segment of the business grows, along with ample space for future development.

Since its founding in 1984, Bonneville Group has completed a wide range of electrical infrastructure, security, and telecommunications projects, including turnkey deployments for highways, biopharmaceutical facilities, industrial plants, commercial buildings, and government agencies.

At the same time, the company provides technology diagnostics, installation, and support services for offices and businesses.

Some of its most notable clients have included Abbott, Lilly, AT&T, Puma, Sheraton, the Puerto Rico Department of Health, Liberty, the Puerto Rico Highways and Transportation Authority, the Puerto Rico Convention Center, Coca-Cola, and New Fortress Energy.

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This content was translated from Spanish to English using artificial intelligence and was reviewed by an editor before being published.