Heineken USA Corp Relations Exec to Step Down

T. Daniel Tearno will step down from his day-to-day position of SVP and chief corporate relations officer at White Plains, N.Y.-based beer importer Heineken USA after 16 years with the company, effective Dec. 31.

Tearno, a 30-year veteran of the American beer industry, will move to a consulting role for the company in 2012. In this capacity, he’ll continue to advise Heineken USA on a wide range of matters relating to public policy, government relations and public relations, and contribute to its presence in Washington.

“As the only person to have held this role in the 16-year history of the organization, Dan has been a pillar of both the company and the industry for three decades,” noted Dolf van den Brink, president and CEO of Heineken USA.

Tearno said that the new position would enable him “to achieve balance between my work and personal lives while continuing to provide value and service to Heineken USA and the beer industry.”

At Heineken USA, Tearno spearheaded a number of industry firsts. Among them were placing a responsible consumption message on all product advertising and containers, as well as the first alcohol beverage company partnership with an Internet app-based taxi ride company, TaxiMagic. Tearno also developed the company’s first ethics training, crisis preparedness and reputation management programs.

In the late 90s he headed the effort to establish a beer task force at the Washington-based National Association of Beverage Importers (NABI), which led to the repeal of beer package restriction laws in Florida and Texas. He was also the first beer industry executive to be chairman of the board of directors and a member of the executive committee of NABI.

Further, Tearno drove the establishment of various partnerships between Heineken USA and law enforcement agencies throughout the United States to help prevent underage drinking and drunk driving.

In addition to his role on the Heineken USA management team, Tearno was a member of Heineken’s global corporate relations leadership team, an organization of senior corporate relations executives who helped guide that function’s global strategy and the career development of junior and middle managers in the corporate relations function globally.

Tearno began his career in the beer industry as a regional government affairs manager for Miller Brewing Co. in 1981. He was also Miller’s director of federal government affairs and VP of corporate affairs for Molson Breweries USA, at that time a Miller subsidiary. He left Miller in 1995 for Heineken USA