The tour of Italy of Forbes’ excellences, which started in March from Florence and will touch ten Italian regions throughout 2024, made a stop in Emilia-Romagna. The initiative aims to talk about Italian excellences which are not only food, wine and typical products, but also other Italian excellences ranging from technology to energy, from healthcare to welfare, from industry to professions. The event was held in the showroom of Dream Wheels in Reggio Emilia, a multifunctional environment enriched by the display of over 500 racing motorbikes and 200 cars of the most prestigious brands.
“We want to talk about the excellence of this country and emphasize Italian pride,” said the director of Forbes, Alessandro Mauro Rossiwho kicked off the event by calling the CEO of Bfc Media on stage for institutional greetings, Nicola Formichella, who wanted to reiterate that the aim of the project is to “reward the people who make Italian companies great, but also to highlight when this happens in institutions. Networking.” The president of Unindustria of Reggio Emilia, Roberta Anceschi, wanted to affirm the strength of the territory: “From this land starts a model of responsible business that aims at the well-being of the territory and at creating important value in textiles, plastics and mechatronics”. The president of the Emilia Chamber of Commerce also spoke, Stefano Landi, who underlined the importance of local businesses: “With Parma and Piacenza there are 130 thousand businesses registered and 500 thousand employees. A turnover that is the second in terms of volume in Italy.”
The mayor of Reggio Emilia also took part in the meeting, Luca Vecchiwho underlined the enormous importance that events like the one organized by Forbes represent not only for the city, but for the entire country.
The panels
In the first panel, Motor excellencesthey intervened Andrea PontremoliCEO of Dallara, who evoked memories of the great historical protagonists with whom he worked: from Enzo Ferrari, who introduced him to the world of sports cars, to Lamborghini, up to the ‘Penelope chassis’ on which the 60 women of Dallara worked ; Francesca PaolaCEO of Dino Paoli, the first woman to lead a Formula 1 company, which is the backbone of Made in Italy motoring.
The meeting continued with the intervention of Ivano FerrariniCEO of Conad Centro Nord, who highlighted the numbers that make Conad great, as well as the “policy of attention to people, which interprets technological innovation in the name of quality”.
With the journalist from Forbes Enzo Argante, therefore, a journey among the protagonists of the circular economy. From the energy industry (with Annalisa StupenengoCEO of Landi Renzowho spoke about the role of energy players) to the recovery of matter and the assets of the Circular Economy Competence Center with the Emilia Romagna Region, which he spoke about Andrea Grillenzonipresident of Garc, but also of the BLab Foundation, which brings together and supports Italian B-corp companies.
The last panel, Focus Startupscoordinated by Enzo Argante, opened with the testimony of Ledi HalilajArt-Er Emilia Romagna Start Cup Unit, dedicated to startups and aspiring entrepreneurs with innovative business ideas on the regional scenario, followed by the intervention of Fausto Mazzalipresident of the Rei Foundation (which manages Tecnopolo di Reggio Emilia; Tech-Up Accelerator; Digital Automation Lab, digitalization and process automation), who presented some startups that revolve around the platform: Refuel Solutions (with Marco Di Mola, co–founder and coo), for biodiesel for heavy vehicles; Prosthetic (with Stefano Toxiri, CEO), deep-tech company specializing in motorized exoskeletons that reduce fatigue and pain in workers; SIEve (with Yuri Serra, ceo and cto), which develops modular filters for the treatment of municipal and industrial wastewater; Protein Italy (with Giovanni Turchettihead of r&d), which breeds soldier flies for the production of organic pet food.
Alessandro Annovistrategy and innovation manager and responsible for Cirfood District (research and innovation center that designs and tests new solutions in the field of nutrition and food service), presented: Hector (with Riccardo Busetto, ceo and founder), collaborative robot that supports the kitchen staff in carrying out operations; Krill Design (with Martina Lamperti ceo and co-founder), solution that gives life back to organic by-products of the food industry; CargoFul (with Filippo TamburiniCEO and co-founder), smart logistics software solution that helps optimize operations.
At the end of the works the intervention of Andrea Notaricorporate venture capital & open innovation manager of Believe mewho spoke about the role of the bank in innovation processes and Officine Credem, the new headquarters of the Credem group in the Innovation Park of Reggio Emilia.
At the end, it was the turn of the usual networking cocktail moment to exchange ideas and create relationships.
The next stop of Forbes Italian Excellence will be on June 5th in Bergamo.
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