2023 C-Suite Awards
Large Private Company: Jon Giampietro | Taco Inc./Taco Comfort Solutions senior vice president of operations
IT IS SAID that there are those who look at the proverbial glass half full, and those who look at it half empty. Jon Giampietro, Taco Inc.’s senior vice president of operations, is recognized by his colleagues as a “glass half full” person. That positive mindset shows throughout his work as a business leader.
“I believe enthusiasm is contagious,” Giampietro said. “There are many challenges in life and the jobs we all do. Approaching those work challenges with enthusiasm and optimism encourages those around us to ‘dig’ into the problem with enthusiasm and drive towards results.”
In his position at the large Cranston-based manufacturing company, also known as Taco Comfort Solutions, Giampietro brings enthusiasm to all of his work. Recently, most of his leadership has been focused on helping manage Taco’s five-year facility master plans for the company’s North American and Vietnam operations, as well as the security task force and risk mitigation teams. Giampietro says the plans allow each facility to identify their constraint to growth in advance of it coming to fruition.
“This allows us to launch continuous improvement activities in the short term to move the constraint out and get more return on investment on our Taco physical assets,” he said. “It also allows us to plan for building expansion, building acquisition, or lease renewal well in advance.”
Giampietro, who has been with Taco for 18 years, has worked to develop his leadership and management skills. Through that experience – which includes Giampietro starting out as a supply chain manager and later leading the valves and accessories business unit – he’s had the opportunity to learn all about Taco and the manufacturing industry. “I had great mentors at that time that encouraged me to learn the whole business.
I took the opportunity to learn and develop the supply chain and really understand it,” he said. “This knowledge allowed me to learn the cost side of the business and focus on cost reductions and work with engineering and product management to drive cost but not value out of our products.”
Giampietro thus far at Taco has had to work through challenges, in particular leading the organization through the COVID-19 pandemic. Giampietro says there was no playbook to deal with the challenges that were brought forth by the worldwide health crisis. Risk assessment was something the company needed to do daily, he said.
While Taco had constantly heard across the market that all manufacturers were struggling, the company struggled less and performed at a higher level through that time, Giampietro says.
“Our supply chain team worked so hard during those times to leverage relationships and knowledge, our operations folks pivoted daily to where we had components, and our sales team gave honest and frequent feedback to our customers,” he said.
True to his positive attitude, Giampietro says the most rewarding aspects of his work at Taco are driving results and helping others be successful in obtaining solid results.
“I enjoy being in a position to influence decisions that give folks an opportunity to advance based on their prior performance,” he said.
Moving forward, Giampietro has his sights set on helping Taco expand its international reach. The company, he says, has nine facilities around the globe and is working with many strong people from North America, Europe and Vietnam.
Ultimately, it is Giampietro’s fellow Taco employees that make his time at the company full of positive experiences. He says he has worked with many talented employees over the years at Taco. He describes his co-workers as “selfless in their approach and have given back to others’ careers as much as their own … [who] inspired me and … [have] shaped me as a professional.”
“I really enjoy giving employees opportunities to grow professionally. Rewarding people for their hard work and willingness to take on new and challenging responsibilities is the fun part of the job,” Giampietro said.
