The Providence Business Journal is recognizing John Hazen White Jr., chairman of Taco Comfort Solutions, for leadership and strategy in its third Manufacturing Awards program.

White has grown the company from a regionally-focused supplier of HVAC products to a global competitor in those markets as well as others not directly involved in heating and cooling. To reflect this growth, Taco rebranded itself as Taco Comfort Solutions earlier this month.

The company’s search for new markets led it to acquire the indoor heating business of Italian pump manufacturer Askoll. Taco now has facilities in Cranston; Fall River; Marion, Ark.; and Milton, Ontario, as well as in Sandrigo, Italy, and Big Duong Province, Vietnam.

In 2012, the company opened a $20 million education center at its Cranston home, adding 24,000 square feet of classrooms, laboratories and a business center to its existing workforce development facilities. The company was recognized for those efforts in PBN’s 2012 Fastest & Innovative Companies Awards program.

White is among 13 winning individuals and companies selected from dozens of applications that will be recognized at a dinner, March 15, at Bryant University.

Source: Providence Business Journal