On the table of the President of Confindustria, an internal note keeps him informed of the delicate situation which for some months has involved the Brescian Industrialists' Association, which is still the third largest association in Italy after Assolombarda and that of Vicenza. Concern in Viale dell'Astronomia has grown even more with the membership resignations of Trafilerie Gnutti di Chiari, the leading company in the brass rod sector and parent company of a very important network of mechanical, component and processing companies in aluminum extrusion.
The Gnutti delle Trafilerie did not wait for the outcome of the tug of war that has been going on for months and which sees the centenary association vertically divided. After expressing concern and discontent over a fracture that is dragging on without an authoritative intervention by the new President, the Gnuttis canceled a membership that had been renewed continuously for over 70 years.
After that of the Lucchini Group, even the farewell of the Gnuttis should have worried the new president Giuseppe Pasini and his collaborators. It is true that the iron and steel industrialist inherited this fracture from his predecessor Marco Bonometti. In Brescia everyone remembers Bonometti's ferocious criticism of the activities and management of all the seven presidents who had preceded him in office.
Criticisms (and additional comments) that ended up irritating not only those concerned but also many other entrepreneurs. Some of the reasons that weighed in the "flop" of Bonometti's candidacy for the presidency of Confindustria must also be found in these behaviours. A candidacy prepared and supported by not indifferent economic resources but immediately aborted due to the scarce support from Brescia and that of the other Lombard associations.
In the stages of Bonometti's presidential race, the appointment of the Director of the Association was also added, chosen outside the traditional areas represented by the professionalism gained in the territories or in the categories. Marco Bonometti, who spent the whole time of his presidency criticizing "politics", went to look for the engine of the Brescian industrialists in a public company in the Lombardy Region (Finlombarda) where one reaches the top above all through political affiliation.
Director Marco Nicolai boasted a long and active militancy in CL, in the Compagnia delle Opere and in the San Benedetto Foundation, organizations that have weighed heavily in the intermediation between politics, companies and business especially in a Region dominated for over 20 years by the Formigoni Presidency. In Brescia, the CDO and CL played a not indifferent role, demanding the recognition of an entirely autonomous organizational representation often contrasting that of the AIB, even with administrative appeals to the TAR.
The appointment of a top representative of that world as Director of the Industrial Association seemed to many associates not only a detriment but also a mockery. The investigation by the Criminal Prosecutor of Milan into Nicolai himself and the other CL exponent (formerly General Manager of the Municipality of Brescia) Danilo Majocchi, who in the meantime became director general of economic development of the Region, disturbed relations between the Management and the membership base .
The accusation of having manipulated the rich grants and millionaire funds for innovation and research that the Region distributes to the fabric of small and medium-sized enterprises led the Milanese magistrates to investigate the two "for fraud in the disbursement of public funds".
The break in association that has continued since the May Assembly, the wall erected against the past-presidents and the cumbersome affair of the Director force the new President Giuseppe Pasini to have to decide quickly to mend his minority who represent an inseparable piece in the Council with the industrial history of Brescia and a package of very important contributions for the association budget. Losing these entrepreneurs along the way would be madness.
