SACMI Imola’s Auditorium 1919 will be the venue for a public presentation of Valter Galavotti’s book “SACMI: from workshop to worldwide success. The origins of an extraordinary cooperative experience”. A fascinating journey through SACMI’s history, from its founding to the 1950s, that illustrates the power and the principles of the Imola cooperative movement
At 6 pm on Monday 2nd December, Auditorium 1919 in SACMI Imola will host a public presentation of Valter Galavotti’s new book, “SACMI: from workshop to worldwide success. Origins of an extraordinary cooperative experience”.
The book narrates SACMI’s fast-paced development from its founding on 2nd December 1919 (exactly 105 years ago) to 1958, the year in which Aldo Villa - SACMI’s first true engineer and an influential promoter of entrepreneurship and cooperation - took the reins of the company.
Through meticulous research, the author delves into the historical roots of SACMI, founded in 1919 on the initiative of nine young mechanics and blacksmiths from Imola during the harsh post-WW1 years.
A documented analysis of the social, human and moral reasons behind the company’s founding illustrates SACMI's close ties with Imola and its flourishing cooperative movement. It’s a story of resilience and humanity, foresight and collective commitment, values that have allowed SACMI to persevere, grow and lay the foundations for what it is today: a world-leading industrial plant engineering company that remains strongly rooted in the community from which it sprung.
A work of outstanding historical and cultural significance, the book was born out of an idea by Aldo Villa himself who, back in the 1980s, asked Galavotti to tell the company’s story through the experiences of those who built it. Several decades later, this updated edition sheds light on figures such as Romeo Galli and Giulio Miceti, promoters of the Imola cooperative movement and originators of the values that guide SACMI to this day.
The presentation - which falls on the 105th anniversary of SACMI’s founding - will be attended by local authorities and leading exponents of the Italian and Imola-based cooperative movement. After an introduction by the mayor of Imola, Marco Panieri, the President of SACMI, Paolo Mongardi, will welcome participants and highlight the significance of this book in bearing witness to SACMI’s history and illustrating the still-topical values of cooperation.
Then the author himself, Prof. Valter Galavotti, will illustrate the contents of the book and the historical backdrop. The presentation will also feature vivid personal testimonies. For example, Leo Monduzzi, a former employee and SACMI partner who witnessed some of the key moments described in the book, will recount his experiences while Cecilia Palmieri, a young engineer taken on by SACMI two years ago, will describe hers, illustrating how the company’s history and founding values merge into the present.
“The evening will offer an opportunity to reflect on the identity and relevance of cooperation and on the prospects of a business model that has continually renewed itself thanks to solid values and roots,” observes Paolo Mongardi, President of SACMI.
Moderated by Lara Alpi, chief editor of the Imola weekly Sabato Sera, the meeting will end with a speech by the national president of Legacoop, Simone Gamberini.
