Ruben Diaz Sr. is not one of the three founders of Diaz Group LLC. He not only helped establish the culture and values that separate our organization from the others but also provided the vision and inspiration that caused our company to be formed in the first place. With 35-plus years of experience in the horticultural field and his keen ability to motivate employees, Ruben has helped the family business grow while maintaining the highest standards of quality workmanship. His passion is to interact with customers and to guide employees in their path to success.
Rafael Diaz is one of the three founders and a key member of Diaz Group LLC. With over 20 years of experience in the field, he has built the company from a four-employee operation to a household name in the industry. Rafael is a lifelong learner who never tires in his thirst for knowledge. In addition to his formal education, Rafael has successfully completed the Dale Carnegie Course and the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses entrepreneurship program. Horticulture is a way of life for Rafael, with most of his knowledge coming from hands-on experience and his multiple years of landscape management studies from one of the best horticultural schools in the Chicagoland area. He is a detail-oriented individual who pursues one project at a time to ensure complete satisfaction from his clients.
Ruben Diaz Jr. is one of the three founders of Diaz Group LLC. He possesses extensive education in business and landscape management from Northeastern Illinois University and Joliet Junior College. His knowledge of the trade has played a key role in the company’s expansion. Ruben’s role in the company is to strategically grow and maintain strong business relationships. His passion is the company’s extensive snow removal service offering, which has grown from a small one-truck operation to one of the top snow and ice control providers in the Chicagoland area.
Antonio Diaz has been a part of the Diaz Group team since its beginning in 2007.He has spent most of his career in landscape and hardscape installations and became an Installation Supervisor in 2017. In early 2019, Tony was promoted to his current role as Production Manager. He is passionate about team building and continually strives to develop and grow with his team as they continue working together.
Preeti Amin joined the Diaz Group team in 2017, bringing with her over 20 years of accounting expertise. She has worked in the facilities service industry for the past five years. Preeti manages the full cycle accounting for Diaz Group and also manages all client service data over the term of each service agreement. She creates and maintains plan documentations of finance and sales to ensure contract execution and renewal. Her passion aligns well with her expertise in data accuracy, process improvement, and time/priority management.
Enrique Cahue became our newest Landscape Designer / Consultant in early 2019. While working in the civil construction sector, Enrique dove into gardening and became a Certified Master Gardener and Urban Farmer through the University of Illinois Extension Program. Enrique has kept his knowledge and skills honed by attending numerous classes with the Chicago Botanical Garden as well as other workshops and seminars around the Chicago area.
Juan Gutierrez already possessed substantial green industry experience when he joined Diaz Group in 2016. Having been involved in landscaping since he came to the United States from Arandas, Jalisco in Mexico, over twenty years ago, Juan applies and shares his expertise daily as our Production Manager. Having deep experience as a Production Supervisor, he demonstrates a great deal of compassion for both his Production team and his Diaz Group customers. His passion for quality and deep knowledge of the trade make Juan a valuable resource for the department he now manages as well as for the company at large. While he truly enjoys doing his job as perfectly as possible, Juan also enjoys spending time with his family, taking them to racetracks and car shows as well as on camping, hunting, and fishing trips.
Edgar Salazar moved to Chicago from Venezuela in 2014 to learn English and gain new experiences. He has been a member of the Diaz Group team since 2016, learning our industry from the ground up, beginning as a laborer and growing into his existing position as Facilities Manager. He previously worked as an industrial engineer with experience in new system development and process standardization. As the Facilities Manager for Diaz Group, Edgar uses his experience and expertise not only to oversee the repair and maintenance of our facility locations but also manages the sourcing, acquisition, preventive and routine maintenance of all equipment and vehicles for Diaz Group and ensures that our repair and maintenance shop’s work flow and processes are efficient and effective, minimizing down time for our production crews.
Christopher Fernandez is a US citizen by birth, although he is originally from Mexico, has studied in Spain, and lived and worked in Colombia before making his home in the United States. Chris is a Civil Engineer with work experience in marketing, training and sales, and currently works as an Account Manager at Diaz Group, where he values having the opportunity to improve his management and communication skills in our family-oriented business environment. Chris prizes organization while admitting that even he faces challenges in this area — and in so doing, Chris displays one of his strongest traits: authenticity.
Daniel Gonzalez was born into the landscaping industry. A lifelong Chicagoland native, his father owned a landscape business. Daniel has over two decades of varied landscape industry experience at the retail, wholesale, and service provider levels, and has worked in the field as well as in the office. All of this has come in handy since he joined Diaz Group in 2020, having worked in sales, account management, vendor relations, and more. Daniel is family-driven, which makes him a perfect fit with our familial culture.
Melisa Perez came to Diaz Group in early 2021 with a degree in business administration, a background in office management, and some rather unusual skills like welding and metal fabrication, which she picked up working in her father’s ornamental and structural ironwork business. A Chicagoland native, her organizational and communication skills, combined with resourcefulness and a knack for details, have made her very effective in our accounting department and beyond. Melisa is quite family-oriented and spends her leisure time enjoying good foods, do-it-yourself arts and crafts projects, and marksmanship.
Diane Diaz became a part of the Diaz Group LLC Team in 2020, bringing her experience from owning her previous business and spent numerous years in the dental industry, where she focused on management, training, and consulting. As our Director of Human Resources, she is passionate about spreading the importance of culture, empowering the team through training and education, and showcasing the story of the most important part of a business, its people. Although Diane set aside her professional nail care business when she joined Diaz Group, she remains active as a Manicurist/Educator for CND, a global professional nail company.
Armando Leon came to the US from Mexico with goals and aspirations for his future and with big dreams for his life. His first job was in Las Vegas, Nevada, where he learned to install large areas of sod at golf clubs. He enjoyed Landscaping and from there came to Chicago looking to continue his career path. Armando had excellent teachers in two different companies over a span of ten years before encountering the staff of Diaz Group in December of 2019. He felt captivated by the people, the type of machinery they used, and the capabilities they had. Armando proved himself to be an efficient worker of consistent quality. By 2020, he became a Foreman and based on his continued performance, was given the opportunity to become a supervisor. Armando takes great pride in being a member of the Diaz Group family and working with other leaders. He epitomizes the declaration, “I am Diaz Group!”
Pablo Lopez came to the United States alone in 2004 from the city of Irapuato, located in central Mexico, at the age of 15. His first job was in landscaping for Diaz Brothers (not to be confused with Diaz Group LLC ). Nine years later, Pablo applied for a position with Diaz Group and has been with us ever since. Although Pablo enjoyed his work as a Laborer, when the company gave him the opportunity to become a Foreman, he jumped at the chance. Six years later, Pablo was promoted to his current role as a Production Supervisor. He always seeks to improve and his advice to those who would follow his example is, “Keep going—everything is possible.” Pablo is an avid horseback rider and spends his leisure time riding, whenever he can.
Angel Arauz came to the US with his brother in 2004 from Mazatenango, Suchitepequezand, in southwest Guatemala, but it wasn’t until 2012 that he began working with the Diaz Group family. He began as a laborer, assigned to a construction crew to install patios. As Angel’s knowledge and skills progressed, he became an operator/foreman working on City of Chicago jobs. Because of his proven experience, Angel was given the opportunity to work on all Patio construction projects during the warm season and as a Snow Production Supervisor in the winter. He is one of those rare individuals who loves his work and always does it with a smile. Recognized for his self-confidence and ability to connect with others, Angel has taken on the additional responsibility of Recruitment Manager, representing Diaz Group to potential field employees across the Chicago area. His personal motto is “sin miedo al éxito,” which means “without fear of success.” True to his nature, Angel enjoys spending time with his family, motorcycle riding, visiting new places and attending social gatherings.
Daisy Zarate has been a valued member of Diaz Group since 2015. During that time she has worked in office administration, assisted production supervisors, managed payroll, started the company’s first dedicated Human Resources department, and after having taken over supervision of a substantial new landscape production project, is back as the department’s Administrator. Her interactive skills and genuine respect for the people of Diaz Group are what make her very effective at what she does.
Anthony Cassidy joined Diaz Group in 2021. With twelve years of proven experience in national account management in the snow and ice industry, four of those as a business owner, he bridges the gap between our Customers and Vendor Partners. As Director of our Regional division. Tony’s mission is to expand the Diaz Group brand across the country by building strong vendor partnerships that add value on every level.
Esteban Hernandez has worked as a mechanic for well over a decade. Born and raised in Chicago, he attended Lincoln College of Technology, formally Lincoln Technical Institute, in Melrose Park and studied gasoline engines. Various job opportunities over the years and a keen interest in how things work have brought Esteban to learn diesel and hydraulic repairs as well. He credits the bulk of his learning to practice and at times, through failure. Esteban has spent the bulk of his career maintaining and repairing fleet vehicles and he enjoys being able to help his peers and our company by providing the necessary repairs and maintenance to get jobs done on time. When he isn’t doing all this, Esteban enjoys family camping outings and fishing.
Ezequiel Cazares Alcantar has been a mechanic for 25 years. He is originally from Santiago Papasquiaro, in the Mexican state of Durango, where his father, Jaime Cazarez, taught him to repair, maintain, weld, and fabricate. Ezequiel arrived came to the USA in 2018, and worked as a mechanic at Sumit Construction Company before joining Diaz Group in 2021. He enjoys welding and fabricating as well as learning from new equipment and rapidly advancing technology. In his spare time, Ezequiel enjoys riding ATV’s and 4-wheelers.