Phase2 Hires Thomas Tague, Former Reuters CTO, as Chief Operating Officer

ALEXANDRIA, VA--(Marketwired - Feb 18, 2014) - Phase2, a leading digital content strategy, design, and technology firm, today announced key additions to its executive leadership team with the hiring of Thomas Tague to the newly created role of Chief Operating Officer (COO). The addition of the COO function is part of an executive realignment designed to focus on the needs of Phase2's clients and team members as the company continues to expand its operations. Tague joins the company from Thomson Reuters, where he served as Chief Technical Officer for Media Product and Support, and was responsible for bringing together product management, engineering, and customer support for a half billion-dollar product portfolio for the news agency.

In 2013, Phase2 experienced staff growth of approximately 50% and is poised to exceed that in 2014. As COO, Tague will oversee Phase2's operations and will lead the company's growing delivery teams and client services.

"Tom has a rare blend of seasoned experience, leadership qualities, common sense, and a great understanding of our technology and industry," said Jeff Walpole, Phase2's Chief Executive Officer. "I don't think we could have found a person better-suited for Phase2 and the task at hand."

An industry veteran, Tague brings over 30 years of managing and scaling technology, consulting, product, and sales teams at organizations varying in size from startups to Fortune 500 companies. Prior to his work in the Media division, he led the OpenCalais initiative at Reuters. Before joining Reuters, he led product development in the semantic web space at ClearForest and served on the executive teams of two successful software services firms: Tessera Enterprise Systems, which sold to iXL in 1999, where as COO he scaled to 200 consultants; and Darwin Partners, where he served as Executive Vice President (EVP) for a $40M consulting practice.

Phase2's executive realignment also brings new roles to the company's leadership team, which marks the next step in the company's progression. Specifically, new leadership and roles will include the following:

• Joe Caccavano, Chief Marketing Officer. Former Phase2 Vice President of Sales Joe Caccavano has been appointed as the company's first CMO. He will oversee Phase2's marketing and branding efforts to support its continued growth.
• Karen Borchert, Executive Vice President of Strategy. Previously the company's Vice President of Strategic Initiatives, Borchert has been appointed to EVP of Strategy and will lead innovation activities, product strategy, business planning, research and development, and strategic ventures.
• Mike Caccavano, Executive Vice President of People. Caccavano, the former CEO of Treehouse Agency (which merged with Phase2 in 2012) has been appointed to the newly created executive position that will focus exclusively on the talent and people functions at Phase2 including recruiting, HR, on-boarding, career planning, and professional development.
• Gretchen Howell, Chief Financial Officer. A veteran controller and CPA, Howell has been named Phase2's CFO. She joined Phase2 last year with over 30 years of financial experience, and she will continue to oversee the company's financial health and growth.
• Rich Tolocka, Mike Morris, Nicole Lind; Senior Vice President, Client Services. In an elevated role, Phase2's Vice Presidents of Client Services will continue to lead the company's delivery teams and grow the business with customers as SVP of Client Services.

"The realignment of our leadership team marks our continued commitment to growing and improving the services we provide to our clients," said CEO Jeff Walpole. "We aim to not only grow the company, but to make it better and more efficient as we do."

About Phase2
Founded in 2001, Phase2 is a leading digital content strategy, design, and technology firm serving the world's most influential organizations by providing strategic consulting, development, and design services. With a growing team of almost 100 people, Phase2 has offices in Washington, DC, New York City, San Francisco, and Portland, with additional teams across the country. Committed to improving digital and technology efforts through open source technology, Phase2 offers deep expertise in the areas of user experience, visual design, accessibility assurance, content management, integration, and software processes.