Growing today requires courage, collaboration, and the ability to interpret a rapidly changing economic landscape.
Adriano Mauro, Founder and Managing Director of AREA, attended the Top 100 Nord Est event in Udine, held at the newly inaugurated Spazio Villalta, a venue created from the former Dormisch brewery, which now hosts the ITS Academy, public spaces and laboratories. The event brought together leading companies from the region to discuss the theme “The New Frontiers of Growth.”
The discussions highlighted the strategic decisions that companies in North-East Italy are currently facing. Global tensions, evolving industrial dynamics, and shifting markets are pushing businesses to rethink how they generate value and seize new opportunities, while leveraging the strengths of their local ecosystems.
Alessandro Minichilli, Full Professor of Management, Bocconi University, addressed family-owned business strengths, like the social capital they develop and their specific challenges, such as generational conflicts, emotional attachment and the founders’ dilemma, their difficulty in ‘letting go’. Family Governance, a set of structures, practices that formalise the interaction between the family and the business, allowing entrepreneurs to delegate to external managers, recognising that sustainable growth often requires new skills, perspectives, and openness to broader scenarios.
A particularly impactful contribution came from Engineer Giacomo Petrucco of ICOP, who shared the company’s journey from a traditional family business to an international group. ICOP collaborated in several Project funded by the European Commission in the past and today it is integrating digital technologies, such as the project collaboration cloud based platform, in major infrastructural development such as the for the Trieste Logistic Platform. An evolution that has required financial strength to enable the expansion into wider international markets.
Further insights from AMGA and PwC focused on the current economic landscape, emphasising the importance of aggregation among local companies. Strengthening collaboration within the regional business ecosystem was highlighted as a key factor in achieving international competitiveness.
Giacomo Mareschi Danieli, CEO of Danieli, also addressed the structural limitations of operating in a relatively small and less populated region, explaining how this has driven the company’s internationalisation strategy, an approach that resonates strongly withAREA’s own experience.
For AREA, the event provided valuable insights into the dynamics, challenges, and opportunities shaping the local entrepreneurial fabric. While AREA maintains a strong international focus, working primarily in emerging markets in the fields of technology transfer and EU funded projects, it remains essential to stay connected to its roots. Understanding local business realities can open pathways for meaningful synergies when objectives align.
