"L'Occhiale Bellunese" competition award ceremony yesterday
The winners of the “L'Occhiale Bellunese” competition received their rewards in a packed hall at Cadore City Council in a snow-covered Pieve di Cadore (Belluno). The competition was organized by SIPAO (Sezione Industrie Produttrici di Articoli per l’Occhialeria di Assindustria Belluno) and Giovani Imprenditori di Belluno in collaboration with ANFAO (Associazione Nazionale Fabbricanti Articoli Ottici) and MIDO, to celebrate the Belluno eyewear industry’s 130 years.
The winners of the competition were Lara Cossalter of ITI Catullo, Belluno, and Enrico Lotto of ITI Segato, Belluno, for the Design and Marketing categories, respectively.
The award ceremony included an animated debate on the current situation and future prospects of the eyewear industry entitled “Young people and glasses: creativity in the new millennium”, and talks by some of Belluno’s best-known captains of industry.
Valentino Vascellari, president of Assindustria Belluno, praised the schools for their participation in the competition – 250 students from all the high schools in the area took part in the initiative – and underscored that young people and schools are essential for maintaining strong roots in the manufacturing industry in Cadore and in the entire province of Belluno. Luigi De Pra, vice president of Giovani Imprenditori di Belluno, emphasized the Group’s strong commitment to integrating schools and the world of employment, which this year involved about 10,000 students and 60 companies.
SIPAO president Valter Da Rin invited institutions, schools, banks and companies to work more closely together and to roll up their sleeves to give the industry major impetus at a time when there are many concerns for the future.
“The way that eyewear and other companies do business today is not the same as in the past”, commented Antonio De Silvestro, SIPAO delegate for small industries. “We must invest in new polices for distribution, innovative production, marketing, design and communication: all areas that can benefit greatly from input by young people”. Moderated by Roberto Papetti, the director of “Il Gazzettino”, also taking part were Vittorio Tabacchi, president of ANFAO, and Cirillo Marcolin, past president of ANFAO, who said that over the centuries eyewear had undergone many changes in shape, materials and even in the reasons they are worn. “Today more than ever”, Marcolin said, “glasses are a fashion item. It’s up to entrepreneurs like us to study the most appropriate innovations that satisfy the market’s tastes and make eyewear an object that corresponds to personal lifestyles. The creativity for which Italians have always been renowned”.
In the hall with their professors, the students who took part in the competition also talked enthusiastically and with passion, emphasizing that their participation was also motivated by the desire to make a tangible contribution to overcoming the difficult economic situation also in the province of Belluno.
