Pumps

Providence, R.I. – The first annual John Hazen White III Memorial Tribute was held under sunny skies on Saturday, April 27, at Narragansett Brewery. It was a memorable day filled with unity and celebration. Participants included Taco employees, cherished family members, dear friends, and valued partners at Community Preparatory School.

The event began with a meaningful one-mile walk/run, symbolizing the shared commitment to our community and its well-being. The slogan, “Come Walk or Run in Memory of Maddie’s Daddy,” provided an extra special, heartfelt incentive.

Following the walk/run, the festivities continued at the brewery, where attendees enjoyed live music, delicious food, and the joyous camaraderie of being together. It was a time to reflect on the impact of John Hazen White III’s legacy and to honor his vision of making a positive difference in the lives of others.

“Seeing everyone here today means so much to us,” said Kate White, Corporate Social Responsibility Partner at Taco. “This is exactly the type of event that John would have loved—an opportunity to spend time together with family and friends for such a wonderful cause. We wish he was still here, but we know he lives on in all of us,” Kate mused.

John H. White, Jr, Executive Chairman and Owner of Taco, reflected on the day. “Today’s event was truly special. Sharing time together with friends, family and the Taco community is the perfect way to celebrate John’s life and the joy he brought to all those who knew him,” said John.

“We are so thankful for everyone joining us here to pay tribute to John,” said Ben White, Program Manager, Business Operations at Taco. “He made us all better people and continues to have a positive impact on our lives. As we have been saying, love is not a big enough word when it comes to John,” concluded Ben.

We invite you to consider donating to the John Hazen White III Endowed Scholarship fund at Community Preparatory School. Your generous donations will help us continue his legacy of empowering young minds and transforming lives. Details on how to donate can be found at https://bit.ly/44inhTJ.

Taco Hydroflo Pump Solutions has opened a new state-of-the-art facility in Lubbock, Texas.  The site opened on February 21, and substantially expands the operations of the Taco Family of Companies. Taco is headquartered in Cranston, RI.

Hydroflo’s new 45,000 s.f. location in Lubbock, Texas, is in the manufacturing and transportation hub of northwest Texas, 40 miles north of its prior location in Brownfield, Texas.  With the new facility also comes the advantage of added space for future growth, additional capabilities and team expansion.

“The opening of this new Taco Hydroflo Pump Solutions facility signifies a renewed focus on ensuring that our customers have access to the most dependable high quality vertical and submersible pumps in the market,” noted Cheryl Merchant, President and CEO, Taco Family of Companies. “Our investment in the infrastructure, testing equipment and expanded workforce is just the beginning of the next phase of the Hydroflo story.

“I would like to extend my thanks and gratitude to our new landlord, Randy Teinert, the City of Lubbock, and the Lubbock Chamber of Commerce,” continued Merchant.  “Family is at the core of everything we do at Taco, and I want to thank all of you for making us feel like family. Your warm welcome to this community has made all the difference.

“The Hydroflo team, along with the more than 1,200 Taco team members, are leading us into the future,” she added.  “A future of opportunity, a future of growth and a future of well-earned success.”

According to Hydroflo’s Director of Sales, Clay Williams, the facility substantially expands their manufacturing, warehouse and quality control operations. New manufacturing equipment was purchased for the facility, and a state-of-the-art test pit have expanded their testing capabilities as well.

“The new test pit is much larger and deeper and greatly improves our range of testing,” explained Larry Jones, Hydroflo VP.  “We now have the ability to test all current pump models, something we previously had to outsource.”

Hydroflo manufactures a wide range of submersible turbine, vertical axial-flow, vertical mixed-flow, and vertical turbine pumps for use in the agricultural, commercial, industrial, municipal, marine, mining, and power generation markets. The company uses high-quality ductile iron discharge heads and fabricated steel or 316 stainless steel L, F, and T style heads. Ductile Iron bowl castings with impellers in 201 stainless steel impellers are also used for greater strength. For applications that require resistance to corrosion, Hydroflo offers castings and impellers in 316 stainless steels in order to provide the best materials of construction to meet specific application needs.

Taco Hydroflo Pump Solutions is an integral part of the Taco Family of Companies, an expanding global network of industry-leading brands that strive to be the first source for durable, high-efficiency heating, cooling, plumbing and fluid-control solutions that help its customers save money, energy and resources while maximizing comfort and productivity.

At the Taco Comfort Solutions booth at this year’s AHR Expo, the company had a new twist—a virtual reality (VR) demo and a glimpse into the future of training. Mechanical Hub caught up with Dave Holdorf, Product & Application Instructor – East for Taco. Here is what Dave had to say:

With the success of the Taco training department in the residential and commercial realms, as well as our webinar series of Taco Tuesday and Taco After Dark, what could be next? We have asked customers over the years what can we do to make the training experience better? The number one answer has always been more hands on. I would then ask, “how do we do that, you mean like installing a circulator and zone valves, joining pipe and flanges and tightening bolts … you mean like work on a jobsite you were at earlier in the week?” VR gives us that ability now—building a system, repairing the seals and bearing in a split case commercial pump, things like that.

Imagine maintenance on that split case pump is coming up and you have never, ever taken one apart much less seen one in the wild, but it‘s now your responsibility to do the repair in an effective and allowable timeframe. What are the proper steps … is there a YouTube video you can watch the night before … so much pressure to get the job done right.

Now imagine a call to us and we can meet you in the “mechanical room” with that very pump in front of us. We’re standing right next to each other virtually, but you’re in Walla Walla, Washington and we‘re in Cranston, R.I. rebuilding it with you—greatly improving your confidence level, and ready for the next day. With this capability, you know the sequence, you know the names of the parts, what to look for and what not to do.

In the end, attendees of the show were surprised, but not too much. I mean, the training department has been up to  so much over the last decade bringing content online and in person that it wasn’t surprising that Taco would try to increase out reach even further.

Of course, we’re just scratching the surface of where we can go with this!

Building owners want to continue reducing operating costs and carbon footprint, switching to more efficient equipment. Combining the Xylem Smart Motor family with the industry proven e-90 pump series provides customers with a proven solution for HVAC applications that offers pump, motor and variable speed drive in an all-in-one product. The e-90E is a versatile close-coupled in-line pump designed for heating and cooling applications. Installed in either horizontal or vertical applications, the robust mechanical seal lowers maintenance costs and increases the life of the pump. The scope includes 12 combinations of high RPM e-90 models combined with the Xylem Smart Motor ranging up to 3HP.