When Rodrigo Castillo of Lone Star Polyurea in San Antonio, TX joined American Polyurea in 2018, he was a two-person operation with a single proportioning machine and a service territory limited to the greater San Antonio area. Eight years later, Lone Star Polyurea is a 15-person company operating across five states, and Castillo is widely recognized as one of the most generous mentors in the polyurea community — having personally guided 11 applicators through their first year of business in 2025 alone.
A Philosophy of Sharing Knowledge
“This industry is not zero-sum,” Castillo says. “There are more projects available in Texas right now than all the polyurea contractors in the state combined could complete. When I help someone start a business and succeed, I’m building the industry’s overall reputation and capacity. That’s good for all of us.”
Castillo’s mentorship approach is direct and hands-on. He invites new applicators to job sites, walks through equipment setup and calibration, shares his project documentation templates, and makes introductions to his supplier network. “I always tell them: the technical stuff you can learn from articles and webinars. What I can give you is the judgment — when something looks wrong and you need to stop, how to handle a customer who’s unhappy, how to read a specification and know when to ask questions before you start.”
Building the South Central Chapter
Castillo also co-chairs the South Central Chapter, which at 241 members is the largest regional chapter in the American Polyurea network. He organized the Houston pipeline coating symposium in March 2026 — the largest single-day event the chapter has hosted — in partnership with AMPP. “Getting polyurea contractors and pipeline industry inspectors in the same room, talking the same language, builds trust that translates into project opportunities for our members.”
Castillo’s 2025 work earned him the American Polyurea Community Leadership Award at the August 2025 Annual Summit. Contractors interested in connecting with Rodrigo can find him at upcoming South Central Chapter meetings or through the contractor directory.
