“I arrived in Bristol on a Sunday night, and started working on Monday morning,” said Jose (Joe) Carlos DaPonte from the executive offices at C&C Fiberglass Components on Ballou Blvd., a business he and his wife Rosa built from the ground up.

The year was 1973, and Joe was only 17 years old when he and his family — father Jose, mother Maria Conceicao, sister Maria Eduarda and brother Fransico — came to Bristol from Sao Miguel. As a child on the family farm in the town of Pico da Pedra, his day began before dawn, milking cows, collecting eggs, and clearing fields before attending school. He brought that work ethic with him to Rhode Island, working both the first and second shifts at Robin Rug in Bristol and Central Falls. After two years, he began working construction, building Cumberland Farms stores. Over the next several years he would find employment locally at the Converse Factory and finally at Pearson Yachts, where he would find his passion for boat building.

“My first job at Pearson was as a toolmaker. I went there, and to be honest, I don't even know how to read a tape measure,” said Joe. “My supervisor gave me a piece of paper and a tape measure with these measurements. I said ‘I don't know what am I supposed to do?’ And he said ‘Yeah, you can figure it out.’ And that's how I started. I used to bring the blueprints home and study them — that’s how I know how to read blueprints.”

In 1986 he was approached by the owners of Clarke Ryder to run their tooling department, overseeing 12 employees and building the SeaSprite 29’ and 33’, as well as power boats. In 1992, he began working with Albin Marine, relocating the company to Bristol and becoming their production manager.

Growing family and business
Somehow, when he was not working Joe managed to find the love of his life and together they built a family. Maria Rosa was one of six children living with her parents in the town of Cabouco Da Lagoa on Sao Miguel when Joe first met her, at church, during a visit in 1979.
He admits that running into her was not exactly happenstance.

“Her sister was married to one of my cousins, and I used to go to his house,” said Joe. “That's how I first met her — I saw a picture on the wall.”

Happily, the affection was mutual and before long, Rosa had immigrated to the United States. They were married in St. Elizabeth Church on Jan. 17, 1980, and welcomed their first son, Cesar, nearly three years later. Son Craig would follow in 1992. For the first several years of their marriage, Rosa worked for a company in Portsmouth that manufactured badges, until she began raising their sons full-time following the birth of Craig.

In April of 1998, Joe followed his dream of starting his own company. For someone who had been working long and hard for others his entire life, it was a big, bold move.

“Some companies take care of you and some don’t. And towards the end, I worked for a company and they weren't really taking care of me,” Joe said. “That was bothering me and I said, I’ve got to do my own thing because everything I did in life to this point, I've been successful. Why not try this?”

“I came home on Friday and she [Rosa] said, ‘what's the matter?’ I said, ‘I quit my job, but don't worry about it. I’ll be working on Monday.’”

C&C Fiberglass Components Inc. opened up in a small 4,000-square-foot garage on Metacom Avenue, primarily building fiberglass parts for other companies as well as car bodies. With one employee at the time, Joe and Rosa outgrew the space and moved into 12,000-square-foot building on Franklin Street. Then, in 2002 C&C Fiberglass purchased NorthCoast Boats and began building, marketing, and selling their own boat line. In 2005, they built their current facility in a 60,000-square-foot building and welcomed son Cesar to the management team; Craig would follow a decade later when he’d finished his education. In addition to NorthCoast, C&C Fiberglass builds the popular line of sailing vessels, J/Boats.

Free time and turf wars
Believe it or not, they do have a little free time these days. When they find it, Joe enjoys fishing with friends, golfing, and spending time with family. Rosa emphatically does not enjoy fishing, though she does like a nice boat ride from time to time. She also likes time spent with family and friends, as well as baking and gardening.
Then there’s the grass.

She claims to like cutting the grass — Joe does not — but he often ends up doing it nonetheless. “We had a landscaper, but she said she wanted to do the grass,” said Joe. “I asked, why do you want to do that?” So, he sold their lawnmower.

“It’s exercise, I enjoy doing it,” said Rosa. So he bought a new lawnmower. But Rosa still doesn’t get to use it much.

“The neighbors are going to look out the window and think I’m making my wife cut the grass! Are you serious? I can’t do that,” said Joe, laughing. So he’s been known to sneak out of the office on Fridays, in effort to cut the grass before Rosa can get to it. Rosa doesn’t say anything to that — but she smiles in a way that suggests that arrangement works just fine for her as well.

And now, Chief Marshals
Over the years, as they were working, building a family and a business, Joe and Rosa became an integral part of Bristol’s community, and in 2011 they became U.S. citizens. Longtime parishioners of St. Elizabeth Church, Joe was one of the founders of the Holy Ghost Feast. Over the years Joe and Rosa have hosted the Domingas multiple times, sponsored the 4th of July Ball, and served as VP and President of Santissima Trindade. They are former members of Don Luis Filipe and current members of the Portuguese cultural and recreation club of Warren.

They have also put their professional skills to use in the community — most notably recently repairing Bristol’s parade-weary Mr. Potato Head.

“I chose them because of their inspirational story,” said Chuck MacDonough, General Chairman of the Bristol 4th of July Committee. “They have truly lived the American dream.”

For Joe, his otherworldly work ethic isn’t all that surprising. “It’s because I never forget that my parents gave everything away in the old country to bring me here.”

Of the Chief Marshal honor, “I was shocked,” said Joe. “I got tears in my eyes.” Rosa admitted that it was an emotional moment for her as well. “It is a big, big thing.”