GAGGIO MONTANO, Italy–Mark Buss has been named president, chief executive officer and general manager-Americas for Saeco International.
This newly created position puts Buss in charge of Saeco’s operations in the United States, Canada, Brazil and Argentina, and the heads of the subsidiaries—including John McCann, president of the U.S. unit—now report to Buss. He in turn reports to Stefano Folli, executive vice president of the corporate parent.
Most recently, Buss was president of MB Consulting, which he founded in 2005 and which specializes in domestic and international expansion strategies. His career also includes executive positions with Hamilton Beach, Seymour Housewares, Bristol-Myers Squibb and Philip Morris. He is also on the board of directors at Euro-Pro.
His appointment is one of a series of geographic realignments made by Saeco International, which have created “zones” headed by general managers, to whom the heads of the individual country subsidiaries report. Along with the Americas zone are the Pacific-Asia zone and the European zone, and all of the general managers report to Folli. In a Saeco statement, Buss said these realignments reflect “the growing importance of the company’s business growth strategies beyond its very strong European base.”