Taco Comfort Solutions’ Chairman and Owner John Hazen White, Jr., has announced the promotion of Wil VandeWiel to CEO of the 96-year-old privately-held company. VandeWiel, who joined Taco in December 2014, was previously president and chief operating officer.

“Our elevation of Wil to the position of CEO of Taco Comfort Solutions is a direct result of the substantial progress we have made over the past two years as we continue to transition Taco from an American company based in Rhode Island to a global brand based in the U.S.,” commented John White, Jr. “As president and COO for over 18 months, Wil has brought tremendous energy, team-building and focus to our organization, just as we expected him to do, and he is ready to take over the CEO position.

White added: “This executive transition will allow me to focus to an even greater degree on strategic planning and total Taco growth going forward. While we work to strengthen our competitive position around the world and expand our product offerings and markets served, we will continue to nurture the important and abiding relationships we have with our employees, suppliers, and the communities where we work.”

In addition to strategic planning activities and relationship building, White will remain actively involved in the philanthropic work of The White Family Foundation, in pursuing his own philanthropic and community interests, and in developing his American Manufacturing initiative project in conjunction with the Brookings Institute in Washington, D.C.

“In promoting Wil to the CEO position at Taco sends a clear message of the full confidence and trust that our board of directors and I have in him,” White added. “Together with the senior management team, Wil will master the challenging tasks and exciting opportunities that lie ahead of us in the years ahead.”

A native of the Netherlands who is an American citizen, VandeWiel, 50, came to Taco as an experienced senior executive with a track record of building collaborative teams and achieving sustainable growth with a number of top-tier international companies. He has an engineering undergraduate degree from the Netherlands and received his business schooling at MIT. He is currently on the board of the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business. Married with four children, he resides in East Greenwich, R.I.