Wheeling, Ill. – The board of directors of BÖWE BELL + HOWELL (BBH) announced the appointment of John Tarascio to the office of chief operating officer effective Feb. 2, 2010. Tarascio most recently was president of BBH Services, with responsibility for the North American services organization and for product manufacturing in Bethlehem, Pa., and Durham, N.C. In his new position, he will also assume responsibility for product engineering and manufacturing for all BBH hardware lines.  

"John's promotion further develops the alignment of our organization from focused business units to a matrixed, solutions-driven group," said George Marton, BBH president and CEO. "His proven leadership and drive for customer-oriented solutions has built one of the finest service organizations in the industry. We are very pleased that he will now bring that same commitment to other key areas of our business."  

Tarascio was appointed president of BBH Services in 2009. He led the Services Operations organization at BBH from 2000 until 2009, and prior to that, held positions as executive vice president of Field Service (North America) and Technical Support Operations. During his 28-year tenure, Tarascio drove the implementation of one the most advanced customer support infrastructures in the industry using a true service business integrated CRM system and an award-winning corporate technical university.