CEO of Graded, among the most active Italian Energy Service Companies in our country and abroad, Vito Grassi is an entrepreneur used to seeing the glass half full for the future and who deeply loves his homeland. He told us about his experience and how he combines entrepreneurship and the Mezzogiorno, between innovation to retain talent and the need to work with a systemic approach.
– Questa intervista fa parte del terzo numero cartaceo de IlNewyorkese: ACQUISTALO QUI
What are the opportunities for doing business in the South?
“If you consider the gaps there are to be made up, the opportunity to do business in the South has very wide market spaces and margins for growth. Despite an environment that makes the area uncompetitive and does not put companies in the best conditions to sustain the challenge of the markets, there is a southern entrepreneurial class that knows how to get through any difficulty. The latest example was provided by the recent ZES appeal, which registered a remarkable liveliness of the entrepreneurial fabric, a great success for the South with a substantial number of applications and a total amount that was unthinkable until some time ago.”
An important message
“It was a good message for the government as well: if you want to support growth in the South, the companies that believe in it are there, they are numerous, they are in all sectors and they are looking forward to it. A nice sign of ferment. It is just the latest counterevidence for a business fabric that works, that invests, that digitizes, that attacks international markets and above all is an ambassador of Made in Italy in the world. From manufacturing to automotive, passing through aerospace, pharmaceuticals, the agri-food sector and finally the large space dedicated to the economy of the sea where we are the strongest in Italy, in terms of added value and employment with all indicators growing.”
In your industry in particular, how is it working?
“In my area we may be the most fertile territory in terms of renewable energy production potential. You cannot have better yield than in the South in terms of photovoltaic panels. It is increasingly evident that the entrepreneurial fabric is very active, has long abandoned pure welfarist logics and is measuring itself against the dynamics of the international market. Today we don’t feel second to anyone, let alone have a chance to compete on equal terms.”
Let’s say that there is an important turnaround that gives us hope from an entrepreneurial point of view.
“Today we are also finally communicating the positive aspects of the South in all areas, not just business. Those in my profession could not do this if they did not always see the glass half full and were optimistic about the future. For us, from the inside, little has changed in recent years other than keeping the bar straight on the goals to be achieved. Rather, the external perception has changed and is changing. This aspect is extremely pleasing to us if it is helpful in generating confidence in those who have to come to invest from abroad or from other Italian territories and represents the last hope to give a decisive acceleration to the completion of major infrastructure.”
In Italy and also in the South, there are companies and professionals who work a lot with foreign countries and in some cases have achieved best practices that are known all over the world. For you who have also worked with the United States, in Africa and other continents, what is the reputation and approach of the Italian entrepreneur abroad?
“There are many companies that do their daily act of courage. In the sense that they take risks not due to territoriality, but to market uncertainty, which is in the nature of entrepreneurship. It’s no coincidence that Italian companies are very strong in this, and the Italian medium-small fabric is unique in the world. It is the one that has reacted to all the crises of recent years. In the industrial sector, our group today works with many top multinational companies, which have had and maintain a great credit of trust in us. We have companies under English law, under American law in the United States, we operate photovoltaic energy fields in Romania, we work in the Emirates, in Kenya. It’s not just a desire to internationalize; it’s part of our business not to back down. The beautiful and exciting part of doing business is this, to give space to your creativity, your sense of freedom.”
Have your employees grown in your company? What kind of training is there in the territory?
“You touch a chord that is very dear to me; it’s 30 years since I was without my father and I followed his approach, which was one of services even before the construction of the facilities. Services generated that culture of meticulously taking care of the day-to-day efficiency of technological facilities, which still makes the difference with so many competitors. In choosing our employees, we have always followed a pattern of great synergy with universities. Some 30 years ago, we were in close contact with the Department of Technical Physics of the Federico II, today it is called the Department of Energy, from which they would refer graduates with good grades to us, and we would provide job opportunities with the classic internship and apprenticeship route and then a fixed-term or permanent contract. A relationship of great mutual trust was generated over time, which continues to this day with many who entered as their first contract still working with us. Today we can honor ourselves with an in-house bred management that already drives more than 70 percent of our activities, but will be driving 100 percent in a very short time.”
In recent years it has perhaps become more complicated to find personnel, is that right?
“This is the fundamental issue, in fact, finding qualified resources has become more difficult for several reasons: first of all, the denatality. In the last year for the first time, even in the South, there were fewer births. The data record about one million college graduates who have left the South in the last decade, which is why there is an urgent need to do something about it.One of the reasons why young people are not staying is that the opportunities in the South compared to the rest of Italy do not totally give the impression that they are participating in healthy market competition. Some prefer to go abroad where the competition is bloodier, but you feel more valued, and the economic return is also more rewarding. And then there is a leveling down, in the sense that to date the national collective bargaining agreement, particularly the metalworkers’ agreement, an indispensable beacon for workers’ rights, no longer guarantees the necessary purchasing power. Therefore, as much as we can increase a level and give bonuses, the increases are derisory compared to the opportunities that young people can find elsewhere.”
How do you think this critical issue can be solved?
“A lot can be done by companies, and we are working a lot on this. New organizational models are needed from companies, and we are not to be outdone, we are working and experimenting, with the goal of turning operational proxies first into powers of attorney and then into direct responsibilities of satellite companies. This would allow our staff, in parallel with the national collective agreement, to also act as directors of companies related to the parent company, both in terms of market segment and business model and legally. In this way we try to pursue a parallel path that can pave the way for achieving increases in overall remuneration. The primary goal is to start retaining the talent you already have in house. Consolidate the relationship with those who are under contract today, giving a message to the outside world that those who come to work with us will benefit from a system that rewards them more than elsewhere. This is also part of the competition between companies. I’m a big believer in this project called Graded Orbit, and I’m curious to see, once we get it up and running, how many related companies and how many administrators we’ll be able to create. These are models that do not exist elsewhere, and there is no one to provide magic formulas. We try in this way to give more confidence to a young person approaching the Graded world, hoping that it will be helpful in convincing others to choose us.”
Coming to the university, in October a branch of Frederick II University will be opened right in New York in the heart of Manhattan. How do you welcome this news?
“It is a good message for the Italian community in New York, but also a message in continuity about the transformation of the role of universities within society. Universities are real actors of urban transformation, as happened with Apple Academy in the San Giovanni a Teduccio area of Naples. The New York location opens for the 800th anniversary celebration of this institution, among the oldest in the world, and born precisely on the intuition of Federico II. Precisely because of its new role, however, the university will also act as a trailblazer and attractive factor to private entities that will have to in some form increase their partnership with universities, without the concern of the danger of privatizing education. Companies are also being asked to play a role that goes beyond the classical, in an overall process of social transformation that is involving everyone, and in which we participate with great enthusiasm and conviction.”
How do you envision the future of the Mezzogiorno?
“The archaeological, environmental and cultural heritage of the Mezzogiorno with all its potential we are certainly not discovering today, and in fact the tourist attractiveness is incredible. Of course, we cannot stop at tourism alone, which must be accompanied by support for manufacturing that works and connecting infrastructure, otherwise we reach the paradox of having to tax tourists so that they do not reach the territories. We need a medium-term strategy that really focuses on the Mezzogiorno and goes beyond the spoil system of passing from one government to another. Because the support measures have never been lacking, however, the real strategy, the one that includes a focus on Mezzogiorno as there was perhaps on East Germany after the fall of the wall, that has not been there and still is not there.”
How does Bagnoli Futura fit into this context?
“The Bagnoli area will become the city’s green lung with 200 hectares of greenery. It will also be challenging to keep it well maintained. As far as we are concerned, we are directly involved in the environmental technology park. About 30 companies will move into an area that after 16 years has obtained a building permit and where the construction site is being prepared to start elevation construction. It has taken all the patience, determination and application of business people to get to this point, but in the 16 years the risk of default has been very high for quite some time. We see Bagnoli as a great opportunity, and we see that today something is finally being unlocked, even in the areas to be reclaimed. The Sports Park could see the light first because it has been entrusted to the Federation and Coni. Bagnoli two years from now could show some concrete results after at least 25 years of almost total immobility.”
The article Vito Grassi: new blood from Southern entrepreneurship comes from TheNewyorker.
