It is raining in Finale Emilia, on the houses damaged by the tremors, on the rubble of the Clock Tower, on businesses, indeed inside businesses, because many roofs have collapsed. A rich, hardworking area that is proud of its know-how suddenly finds itself paralyzed by the violence of nature and the fear of tomorrow takes root even where it seemed it could never arrive. The first thought is naturally for the dead, for the wounded, for those who have been left homeless. Then there is the problem of work, in an area with a high industrial concentration.
“The world collapsed on us,” he says Rodolfo Musci, owner of Pressmair, one of the local excellences, a small mechanical company with 25 employees, supplier of components and design for luxury yachts.
“We are doing well – says the entrepreneur – we have several orders and it seemed to us that we could face the crisis without too many worries. Now everything has changed, this event completely paralyzes us. Part of our roof has collapsed, there is no electricity and unfortunately we don't know when it will be restored. I would need permission to use the undamaged portion of the quest, but I don't know how long that will take. On the other hand, to put the roof in place we need usability, but this is another permit we have to wait for. The lack of electricity prevents us from carrying out the design assignments that represent 50% of our work, but if I try to contact Enel I only find an automatic responder who informs me of interventions in an area other than ours. In short, a really difficult picture and right now I'm having a hard time making predictions, I think it will take at least a month before we leave again. But a firm that stands still loses money every day, because it doesn't respect deliveries and therefore doesn't make money, and the whole chain breaks, because if you don't make money, you can't pay suppliers and you have to lay off employees. Here this means that the crisis, by other road, has really arrived”.
The dramatic moment certainly brings a darker vision of the future, but it is obvious that companies are in a hurry and in Finale there are many companies and they are used to seeing the economy go round: they are big ceramic companies, a sector that exports a lot and therefore manages to keep up with the economic situation, important food companies (for example Casoni), companies in the mechanical sector and about fifteen artisans. Almost all switchboards ring empty. It had been 500 years since something like this had happened and perhaps the diligent and willing people of the plain felt free from such risks. Nowadays, however, it seems that everyone has to deal with the uncertainty of the future.
