Grupo
Tavares
A century of building. Four generations of leadership. From Dominican industry to global enterprise.
A Century of Building
the Dominican Republic
The Tavares family's contributions extend well beyond commerce. Through both paternal and maternal lines, the family descends from founding figures of the Dominican Republic itself — including Francisco del Rosario Sánchez, one of the three Founding Fathers of the nation, and President Ulises Francisco Espaillat. From the halls of government to the founding of industry associations, from stabilizing democratic institutions to pioneering the free trade zone regime that transformed the national economy, the family's legacy is inseparable from the very founding and modern history of the Dominican Republic. The full story is told in Bulle (2021), the family memoir now in its third printing.
Francisco del Rosario Sánchez
Padre de la Patria
The Tavares family's commercial legacy traces from Santiago de los Caballeros to Santo Domingo and predates the twentieth century. Manuel de Jesús Tavares Portes — businessman, rancher, industrialist, and landlord — founded the renowned Tavares Rum and the revered store El Gallo, becoming one of the wealthiest and most prominent figures in the region. When Manuel de Jesús died of tuberculosis in 1906, his widow Julia Juliá Juliá took their two young sons — Gustavo Arturo and Juan Tomás — on a grand voyage across Europe: Rome, Florence, Venice, Paris, Hamburg. Upon their return, Julia fell gravely ill and traveled to Saratoga Springs, New York, seeking treatment — where she passed away in 1911. The boys were left in the United States, orphaned. Juan Tomas Tavares Julia attended Worcester Academy in Massachusetts before graduating from Cornell University as a civil engineer. In 1921, he founded Fábrica de Mosaicos JT Tavares in Santo Domingo, coining the brand Venesaicos — a fusion of Venice and mosaics — inspired by the grand mosaic floors he had seen as a nine-year-old boy during that European voyage with his mother. That single factory laid the cornerstone of what would become one of the Dominican Republic's most consequential family enterprises.
Juan Tomas Tavares Julia
Founder · Civil Engineer, Cornell University · Santo Domingo, 1921
Original product catalog — Fábrica de Mosaicos de J.T. Tavares, Avenida Independencia, Santo Domingo
What began as a single manufacturing operation — with roots in Santiago de los Caballeros and a factory in Santo Domingo — whose products helped rebuild the capital after the devastating 1930 hurricane and whose concrete blocks became the national quality standard — has evolved, across four generations, into a diversified family office spanning global trade infrastructure, telecommunications, financial technology, data center operations, food-tech, and construction and real estate development. Each generation has not merely inherited the enterprise but fundamentally expanded its scope and ambition.
Three Generations of
Nation Building
First Generation
Juan Tomas Tavares Julia
When his father Manuel de Jesús Tavares Portes died of tuberculosis in 1906, Juan Tomás was just nine years old. His mother, Julia Juliá Juliá, took him and his brother Gustavo Arturo on a grand European voyage — Rome, Florence, Venice, Paris, Hamburg — where the young Juan Tomás was captivated by the continent's great architecture, especially the mosaic floors of Venice. Upon their return, Julia fell ill and traveled to Saratoga Springs, New York, seeking treatment, where she passed away in 1911. Orphaned at fifteen, Juan Tomás remained in the United States, attending Worcester Academy in Massachusetts before graduating from Cornell University as a civil engineer. He returned to the Dominican Republic and in 1921 founded Fábrica de Mosaicos JT Tavares in Santo Domingo, coining the brand Venesaicos — a fusion of Venice and mosaics — from the memory of those floors he had seen as a boy. He exhibited his products at the 1925 Exposición Internacional de Roma, winning a gold medallion. The Tavares concrete block became the national quality benchmark; government specifications simply read Block Tavares o similar. After the 1930 hurricane devastated Santo Domingo, the factory's products helped rebuild the capital. His vision for industrial self-sufficiency laid the foundation for a family legacy that would shape the country's economic trajectory for the next century.
Juan Tomas Tavares Julia
Founder · Cornell University, 1918
Hurricane San Zenon, 1930 — The devastation Juan Tomas helped rebuild from with 'Block Tavares'
Second Generation
Manuel Enrique Tavares Espaillat
Born in Santiago in 1924, Manuel Enrique Tavares Espaillat was the son of Juan Tomás Tavares Julia and Felicia Altagracia Espaillat González. Through his mother, he was a great-great-grandson of President Ulises Francisco Espaillat. He first saw Rosa Emilia Sánchez at the beach in Boca Chica in 1947 and declared: 'Con esa muchacha me casaré yo.' Beginning at Riverdale Academy before transferring to Phillips Academy Andover (1938–1942) — where he formed a lifelong friendship with future U.S. President George H.W. Bush — he went on to Yale University (Industrial Engineering). He served as a member of the Triumvirate that governed the Dominican Republic (1963–1964), playing a critical role in stabilizing the nation after a period of political upheaval.
During the government of President Antonio Guzmán (1978–1982), he served first as Secretary of Commerce and later as Secretary of Foreign Affairs, further cementing the family's commitment to institutional development and democratic values. His brother, Gustavo Arturo Tavares Espaillat, was a founding and emeritus member of the Instituto Dominicano de Genealogía and EDUCA.
Manuel Enrique Tavares Espaillat
Second Generation
"To Manuel — With friendship and a lot of happy memories" — George H.W. Bush, October 18, 1981
Third Generation
Manuel Enrique Tavares Sánchez
Through his mother, Rosa Emilia Sánchez, Manuel Enrique Tavares Sánchez is a great-great-grandson of Francisco del Rosario Sánchez, one of the three Founding Fathers of the Dominican Republic. Educated at Eaglebrook School, Phillips Academy Andover, and Syracuse University, he returned permanently to the Dominican Republic in 1973 to run Tavares Industrial. Together with Margarita Navarro de Tavares, he built not only a family but a shared vision — their partnership becoming the foundation upon which the next chapter of the Tavares legacy would be written. After his father's death in 1984, he co-founded the PIISA industrial parks (1985) and went on to develop the Caucedo Multimodal Port, now operated by DP World as one of the Caribbean's premier logistics hubs.
As the founding president of ADOZONA (Asociacion Dominicana de Zonas Francas), he was the principal architect of the free trade zone regime that transformed the Dominican Republic into a competitive manufacturing and export platform. He was also a driving force behind bringing France Telecom to the country under the brand Orange, which became the catalyst for democratizing access to telecommunications nationwide.
A proactive member and ally of the American Chamber of Commerce of the Dominican Republic, he has documented his perspective on the nation's economic evolution in his autobiography, Bulle. He is the President of Grupo Tavares, the family office that oversees the family's diversified investments and carries the mission of expanding the family's reach beyond the Caribbean region.
Education
Infrastructure & Industry
Trade & Telecommunications
Institutional Leadership
Legacy
Manuel Enrique & Margarita Navarro de Tavares
President, Grupo Tavares
Restoring the Bulle clock — an homage to generational stewardship
Bulle
Manuel Enrique Tavares Sánchez, 2021
Author of Bulle (2021) — A 595-page memoir chronicling seven decades of Dominican history through the lens of business, family, and national transformation. Named after an antique French clock purchased by Juan Tomas Tavares Julia at the 1925 International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts, and restored by Manuel E. Tavares Sánchez as an homage to his grandfather and the family’s commitment to generational stewardship. The book has reached its third printing and was presented at the Feria del Libro de Madrid. Proceeds benefit Fundación 30 de Mayo.
With fifth generation — Kent School Graduation
Global Reach,
Generational Vision
The fourth generation of the Tavares family has expanded the enterprise beyond the Caribbean, establishing leadership positions across fintech, technology infrastructure, and construction and real estate development.
Juan Eduardo Tavares
Co-Founder & Director of Development
Grupo Tavares | Sylvan Food Group
A Phillips Academy Andover and University of Miami graduate (B.B.A. Entrepreneurship, 2002), Juan Eduardo has spent two decades building platforms at the intersection of technology and essential services. His early work in biotech through Biologique gave way pioneering regenerative medicine in the region. In parallel, co-founding AvanzaMe in the Dominican Republic (acquired by Banco Popular Dominicano) and later LendingPoint in the United States, resulting in a fifteen year career in FinTech. Today he applies the same strategic lens to food technology as co-founder of Sylvan Food Group. Recognized by the Atlanta Business Chronicle as one of Atlanta's 40 Under 40 for his work creating opportunities for underserved populations through financial innovation, Juan Eduardo also serves as Vice President of the Board of EDUCA (Acción Empresarial por la Educación), the leading private-sector institution advocating for quality education in the Dominican Republic.
Manuel Tavares Navarro
General Manager & Head of Operations
ONEMAX S.A. | PIISA | NAP del Caribe
Manuel Tavares Navarro oversees the operational infrastructure of the family's core Dominican assets. As General Manager of ONEMAX S.A. for over seventeen years, he delivers mission-critical telecom solutions to B2B clients across the Dominican Republic. In parallel, he serves as Manager of Corporate Strategy for both PIISA Industrial Park and NAP del Caribe — the Caribbean's premier carrier-neutral data center — ensuring the family's industrial and digital infrastructure platforms operate at the highest level. He also sits on the boards of PIISA, NAP del Caribe, and Sylvan Food Group. Beyond the family portfolio, he is an investor in Neolux Energy, driving sustainable energy solutions across Europe and Latin America.
Raúl Tavares
Chief Lending Officer
LendingPoint
Raúl Tavares brings a decade of leadership at LendingPoint, where he has risen from Business Development Manager to Chief Lending Officer. A strategist and data scientist by training, he has held roles spanning credit risk and product development, digital partnerships, and served as Chief of Staff to the CEO — translating company-wide initiatives into measurable results. A graduate of Deerfield Academy and the University of Richmond's Robins School of Business, Raúl represents the family's expansion into American fintech and data-driven financial services.
Gabriella Tavares & Salvador Iglesias
Founders & Principals
Itron Group
Gabriella Tavares, in partnership with her husband Salvador Iglesias, founded Itron Group in 2015 — a construction, development, and design firm based in Punta Cana. With over a decade of experience, Itron Group specializes in the creation of exceptional residential and commercial properties across the Dominican Republic, from contemporary residences to innovative commercial spaces, bringing precision engineering and personalized design to every project.
Building Platforms
That Shape Economies
Grupo Tavares maintains a diversified portfolio spanning telecommunications, industrial infrastructure, global logistics, technology, financial services, real estate, and food technology. Each investment reflects the family's philosophy of building enduring platforms that create systemic value.
Manuel Enrique Tavares Sánchez served as the founding president of ADOZONA, the Asociación Dominicana de Zonas Francas, playing the leading role in establishing the free trade zone regime that transformed the Dominican Republic into a competitive manufacturing and export platform, attracting billions in foreign direct investment and creating hundreds of thousands of jobs.
Accelerated
Development
Invited as keynote speaker at the American Chamber of Commerce of the Dominican Republic’s first business luncheon of 2025, Manuel Tavares Sánchez presented his vision for accelerating national development — proposing the evolution of free trade zones into Accelerated Development Zones and calling for strategic public-private collaboration.
AMCHAMDR Business Luncheon — January 2025
The true success of the Dominican Republic lies not only in the dynamism of the private sector, but in the ability to establish effective collaboration platforms between this sector and the government. Public-private collaboration spaces, regardless of the government in power, constitute a true ‘national treasure’ that we must protect and nurture every day.
There is no rich country with a low competitiveness index, and there is no poor country with a high competitiveness index. Competitiveness is not an abstract concept — it is the concrete foundation upon which national prosperity is built.
Beyond the
Caribbean Horizon
Grupo Tavares was founded with the mission of expanding the family's reach beyond the Caribbean region. As the fourth generation assumes leadership across fintech, technology, food-tech, and real estate, the family office continues to identify and develop platforms that create enduring value at the intersection of emerging markets and global capital.
The principles that guided Juan Tomas Tavares Julia in 1921 remain the foundation of every investment decision: build infrastructure that others depend on, create access where barriers exist, and think in generations, not quarters.
Infrastructure First
We invest in platforms and systems that become essential to the economies they serve. From ports to data centers, our assets form the backbone of commerce and connectivity.
Generational Thinking
Our investment horizon is measured in decades, not quarters. We build enterprises designed to endure, creating compounding value across generations.
Democratizing Access
From telecommunications to financial technology, we have consistently backed ventures that expand access to essential services for underserved populations.