John Hazen White Jr.

John Hazen White Jr. is a bold brand. Anyone watching the history of Rhode Island industry knows that White has earned his flamboyant persona.

He is the third generation of the White family to head privately held Taco Group Co., founded in 1920, through plenty of economic storms and carefully planned growth.

In 2016, Taco Inc. was renamed Taco Comfort Solutions to express its expansion into new industries and global markets. The company’s transformation was essential to move it from a stagnant, if not shrinking, domestic market.

Steps along this path over the past few years have included hiring a new president and chief operating officer; acquiring Hydroflo Pumps, a Tennessee maker of pumps for mining and agriculture; and acquiring Italian pump maker Askoll Sei, to be able to plant the Taco flag in Europe’s HVAC market.

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Part of White’s character is the canny businessman who gathers data from every worker in the company. Because of his family roots and his decision to keep Taco in Rhode Island, despite financial advantages elsewhere, he allows himself the role of community conscience, often sermonizing on topics of public interest.

For years, he has written a column titled Lookout, in which he wrangles with issues that include casinos, political maneuvering at the Statehouse, and the controversial estate tax. (That column opened with the eye-catching: “If I can avoid it, I don’t want to be a Rhode Islander when I die.”).

Following tradition, White and his family’s foundation donate to causes as varied as construction at the University of Rhode Island to programming at the Providence Performing Arts Center. •

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