Pastor Velasco

Pastor (Pat) Velasco is chief executive officer and board member of Pure Safety Group, the world’s largest company dedicated to keeping workers at height safe while on the job. Pure Safety Group (PSG), based in Houston, Texas, owns four companies that manufacture fall protection equipment: Guardian Fall Protection in the Seattle, Washington, area; Ty-Flot in Manchester, New Hampshire; Checkmate in Sheerness Kent, U.K.; and Web Devices in Pasadena, Texas. The company also owns the Norguard brand in Canada and height safety training centers in Texas and the U.K. Its products are used by global customers in the general construction, oil and gas, utilities, telecom, wind and solar energy, mining and transportation industries. Mr. Velasco was part of the team of founders of PSG.

Prior to PSG, Mr. Velasco served as chairman, deputy chairman and chief executive officer of Capital Safety Group, also a fall protection equipment manufacturer, which is now a 3M company. Under his leadership at Capital Safety Group, the company achieved 15 percent growth year over year. Mr. Velasco oversaw the sale of the company to three different buyers during his tenure, achieving an exit value of $565 million in 2008, $1.1 billion in 2011 and$2.5 billion in 2015.

He has also been chief executive officer at Brightview Landscapes LLC, the world’s largest landscape company, and a vice president at Ecolab, a Fortune500 manufacturer of chemical supplies and water treatment equipment. Mr. Velasco was also divisional manager, based in Mexico City, for Black & Decker.

He currently serves on several boards, including for diesel fuel injector manufacturer PurePower Technologies, flow control company Gardner Denver, and a metal stamping company Crosby, Brightview. In March 2016, Pat joined the board at the Gary Sinise Foundation, a non-profit organization, where he is actively involved in addressing veterans’ issues. He is a past board member of D B Industries LLC, which owned Capital Safety Corporation, and the International Safety Equipment Association, the association for personal protective equipment manufacturers that sets safety equipment standards in the U.S. and around the world. Mr. Velasco holds a degree in international business from Quinnipiac University.

"Gary and the foundation have changed lives for so many of our defenders and first responders. There are far too many examples, I feel proud to be affiliated with an organization that protects and safeguards the donations made… this foundation is reflective of Gary’s uncompromising values and ALWAYS does the right thing."

– Pat Velasco