Business model change, employee engagement celebrated by PBN

GOV. GINA M. RAIMONDO emphasizes the importance of advanced manufacturing to the state's economic health to attendees at PBN's third Manufacturing Awards event, held Tuesday at Bryant University in Smithfield. / PBN PHOTO/RUPERT WHITELEY
GOV. GINA M. RAIMONDO emphasizes the importance of advanced manufacturing to the state's economic health to attendees at PBN's third Manufacturing Awards event, held Tuesday at Bryant University in Smithfield. / PBN PHOTO/RUPERT WHITELEY

SMITHFIELD – Transformation and employee value took center stage at Tuesday night’s Providence Business News Manufacturing Awards program, held at Bryant University’s Bello Center.
In prepared remarks, John Hazen White Jr., chairman of Taco Comfort Solutions and winner of the Strategic Leadership Award in the program, stressed his company’s re-branding as an imperative in moving the company from a Rhode Island-based product company in the HVAC market to a global player focused on systems driven by energy efficiency and comfort.
In fact, White communicated his thoughts through a pre-recorded video, since he was in Italy on business, where the company recently purchased a high-efficiency pump maker to expand its product offerings but also to gain a foothold in the European market.
He added that the greatest asset the company has is its employees, stressing that “they are not obsolete ever, they are always developable and growable,” and with that in mind the company has spent millions of dollars building a learning center at the company’s Cranston headquarters and is partnering with a number of the state’s higher education institutions to develop continuing education and graduate degree programs for its staff.
White’s remarks were the culmination of the evening’s festivities, which were kicked off by Gov. Gina M. Raimondo. She addressed the 290 company officials and manufacturing industry insiders – a record for the event for the third year in a row – on the importance of manufacturing, especially high-value added advanced manufacturing, to the state’s economic turnaround.
She pointed to advances in her first year in office, from job growth over the year of more than 8,000 and a recovering housing industry, as well as emphasizing the programs her administration has put in place that are beginning to work. She specifically called out Greystone of Lincoln Inc., the first company to receive new job creation tax credits, because of which it plans to hire 25 workers.
Raimondo went on to congratulate all the Manufacturing Awards honorees and exhorted attendees to stay positive about Rhode Island.
Between the two bookend speakers, PBN recognize the 12 other honorees, many of which told stories of re-focusing and reinvigorated business models as being keys to their success. They all will be profiled in a special section inserted in the March 18 edition.
Presenting sponsor for the third PBN Manufacturing Awards program is Polaris MEP. Partner sponsors include BlumShapiro; Cox Business; Gallo/Thomas Insurance and Hope Global. The media partner is AM790.

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