Taco Names a President and Makes Other Personnel Changes
Cheryl Merchant became president of the Taco Family of Companies, North America, effective Jan. 1, CEO and owner John Hazen White, Jr., announced. Merchant has spent the last 19 years as the president and CEO of Hope Global Industries, based in Cumberland, Rhode Island.
“Cheryl’s addition to our senior leadership team will ensure Taco’s continued success as a high-performing, customer focused company,” White told his Cranston-based workforce this week. “Cheryl’s track record at Hope Global speaks for itself and we are fortunate to have her join the Taco family.”
Luca Bolcati, currently vice president of Taco International, was named president of Taco International, also effective Jan. 1.
Three additional personnel changes were announced.
Taco Comfort Solutions named John Morgan to the position of area vice president for the western U.S. His responsibilities include managing all sales revenue activities for commercial and wholesale channels.
Morgan has more than 25 years’ experience, including sales, operations and marketing. His background includes positions as senior vice president at a Fortune 500 medical device company. He was also a business unit leader for Scotland-based AGGREKO, PLC, which provides temporary power generation and temperature control. He also served for four years as president of California-based Veritas Medical, a medical device distributor and sales organization.
Morgan holds a BS in Business Administration from the University of Connecticut and has done post-graduate work at the Harvard Business School and at IMD Business School in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Taco Comfort Solutions promoted Ric Turmel to area vice president for the central U.S. His responsibilities include managing all sales revenue activities for the commercial and wholesale channels. Previously at Taco, Turmel led the business development and commercial sales teams and the iWorX controls group.
Turmel holds LEED AP certification, for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, from the U.S. Green Building Council, a non-profit organization that promotes sustainability in building design, construction, and operation.
He has an engineering degree from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, a BA degree in business administration from Post University, and studied at the University of Maine.
Taco Comfort Solutions also promoted Geoffry Bent to southeast region manager, commercial products. Previously, he was a regional sales manager for Taco’s building automation system product group. Bent was previously construction sales manager for Johnson Controls, among other roles.
In the U.S. Navy, Bent served as a seamanship and navigation instructor. He is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy.