Arlington, Mass. — John W. Tanner, General Manager for Arlington-based American Alarm and Communications’ Worcester and Central Massachusetts operations since 2007 has been appointed to the newly created position of Regional General Manager. Tanner’s expanded portfolio will include management of the company’s New Hampshire division, the systems installation team that serves the metropolitan Boston area, as well as continued oversight of the Worcester branch.
“John has demonstrated effective leadership, a strong work ethic, and his deep industry knowledge has been instrumental in helping our Worcester team provide top service for customers,” said Wells Sampson, President of American Alarm. “I am confident John will continue to thrive and grow in this expanded leadership position.”
In the Granite State, Tanner will succeed William McLaughlin, president of American Alarm-New Hampshire, who is retiring effective October 1 after 18 years with the company. “I appreciate the vote of confidence, and I am energized by this new challenge,” Tanner said. “We have a great team in New Hampshire, Worcester and the Boston-area installation group, and I look forward to working closely with them to serve our customers.”
American Alarm has grown significantly over the past 10 years through steady business development and by making strategic acquisitions. The American Alarm family of companies now includes Electronic Alarms, one of the leading security systems providers in Rhode Island, and Advanced Signal Corp. of Randolph, Mass., which specializes in the design, installation and servicing of enterprise life-safety systems such as Notifier by Honeywell.
“We remain on a steady growth trajectory, so it’s important to evolve our operational and management structure to take customer service to the next level,” Sampson said. “As a regional leader, John will help us become even more efficient and effective while maintaining a laser-focus on customer service.”
Tanner began his career in the security systems industry as an installation technician, working his way up on the technical side then crossing over to the sales and service side of the business. Eventually, he started his own security systems company and built it up to serve more than 1,500 commercial and residential customers. Prior to joining American Alarm, Tanner held leadership positions for a national home security company's Boston and Rhode Island divisions. Tanner lives in Lunenburg, Mass. with his wife Joanne. The couple has three children.