(Ribbon Cut. At center, Governor Inslee)
On September 12 the Governor of the State of Washington celebrated the Grand Opening of the new Umbra Cuscinetti Inc.’s new production facility in Everett, near Seattle, along with local authorities, customers and employees. I had the honor to take part in the celebration and convey to the audience Ambassador Bisogniero’s congratulations. Our Ambassador in Washington DC visited Umbra last April and was impressed by the company’s dynamism. I was happy to be joined also by Italy’s Honorary Consul in Seattle, Franco Tesorieri.
(With Franco Tesorieri in front of the new facility.)
The new plant will produce aerospace parts, such as ballscrews, torque tubes, shafts and other gear assemblies, which are used on the wings of the airplanes. The size of the building is 70,000 square feet, almost double the size of Umbra’s previous plant. The new facility will be able to generate $50M by 2015 and create additional employment for the State of Washington and for Italy as well.
This investment bears testimony to the vitality of Italy’s aerospace industry and shows that Italian companies are successful in expanding internationally in high-tech sectors. Italy’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs supports the international expansion of our business sector – as reflected by the visit of Italy’s Ambassador in the US, Claudio Bisogniero, to Umbra last April.
Umbra Group is headquartered in the city of Foligno, in the Central Italian region of Umbria and is a world leader in its market. The Group total sales are up to nearly $200M with 1,000 employees world-wide. The main customers are Boeing, Airbus, Moog, Rockwell Collins, UTC and all major airlines.
The North-American market is key for Umbra Group. The Italian company started investing in Everett 14 years ago by creating Umbra Cuscinetti Inc. An American national, Robert J. Collett, has been the CEO in the past four years, leading the company with a team of both Italian and American managers. The Group is promoting its view that internationalization is not a one-way street. “We need to strike a balance” stated the Umbra Group CEO Valter Baldaccini, “between exports to a country and the direct investment into the country you are exporting to. The investment in this new facility makes our Group stronger, not only in the US, but also in Italy. We can say we are bringing the made-in-Italy brand to a new higher level in the high-tech sector”.
