Nov. 7 departure proposed for Italian trade mission

Fasten your seat belts, Sault Ste. Marie.

Your City Councillors will be asked Monday to approve another international trade mission, this time to Italy.

"This event has been initiated by several private-sector opportunities that are time sensitive," says Bruce Strapp, president and chief executive officer of the Sault Ste. Marie Economic Development Corp.

The main event is proposed for next fall, but Strapp wants to take a five-person "exploratory" mission to Italy next month to "reconnoiter and examine the feasibility of the larger event."

Subject to Council's approval, an advance team will leave the Sault on Nov. 7 to arrive in Milan in time for the opening of the Franchising and Partnership Trade Show, which runs Nov. 8 to 11.

Lombardy regional targeted

The Sault's initiative would target the Lombardy region, including the capital of Milan, as well as Bergamo and Brescia.

Milan has been known as a world center of industry and trade since the Middle Ages. It's a city of 1.4 million inhabitants who boast the highest per capita income in Italy.

During the 1990s, Milan found itself at the centre of the massive Tangentopoli corruption scandal, in which as many as 5,000 people were implicated in widespread bribery.

"Tangentopoli started in Milan because it is Italy's most civic-minded city, not its most corrupt," the Economist reported in a recent article.

The Filtrec connection

The EDC wants to set up meetings with the staff of the Canadian Consulate in Milan and with the Italian joint venture partners of Filtrec, a Sault-based manufacturer and distributor of hydraulic filter cartridges.

"There are also several other joint venture proposals that the SSMEDC is working on with Sault Ste. Marie and Italian firms," Strapp says. "These firms will be visited by the delegation."

The bottom line

On Monday night, councillors will be asked to approve earmarking $35,000 toward the cost of the Italian initiative and hosting a return mission from Ireland next June.

The City's also being asked to support an application for $33,750 in FedNor funding for the Italian trade missions.

Why Italy?

Here's an excerpt from the EDC's FedNor application:

"Lombardy has approximately 9 million people and one of the highest concentrations of small business in Europe. There have been several delegations of Italian businesses visit Sault Ste. Marie over the past two years. Italy is the world's sixth largest exporter and tenth largest direct foreign investor. Many Italian firms are world leaders in specialized niche market products. A growing number of Italian SME's benefit from partnering with Canadian companies."

"Successful business linkages already exist between Sault Ste. Marie and Italy. Filtrec srl of Brescia has linked with the Main Filter Group to create Filtrec North America. Danielli Steel joined with Algoma Steel Corp. to build and operate the Direct Strip Mill Complex. Several Italian companies have sent preliminary enquiries about Sault Ste. Marie to the Economic Development Corp."

Here's the proposed budget for the two trade missions:

Budget breakdown - Phase One

Research and co-ordination - $12,000 Literature, promotional materials - $6,000 Trade show registrations, materials - $500 Fee for service (local service provider contracts) - $3,000 Communication - $500 Air travel - $5,250 Ground travel - $2,500 Accomodation ($150 a night x five people) - $6,000 Meals ($100 a person a day) - $4,000 TOTAL ESTIMATED COST - $39,750

Budget breakdown - Phase Two

Research and co-ordination - $15,000 Follow-up after mission - $5,000 Literature (materials and translation) - $20,000 Fee for services (Italy) - $5,000 Communications - $2,000 Promotion of event to local businesses - $3,000 Air travel - $20,000 Ground travel (rail, vehicle rental, 10 participants - $8,000 Accomodation - ($150 a night x 10 people) - $12,600 Meals ($100 a person a day) - $8,000 TOTAL ESTIMATED COST - $98,600

Who'll foot the bill?

$33,750 of the cost of the two missions is expected to come from FedNor.

The Sault Ste. Marie Economic Development Corp. will contribute up to $27,050.

Participants in the trade missions are expected to chip in $77,500.

Who's behind it?

Support for this initiative has been expressed by MP Carmen Provenzano and by Grant Manuge and Sandra Marchesi at the Canadian Trade Commissioner's office in Milan.

"This project is a response to the repeated offers to become involved in a formal mission to Italy," the EDC says in its application to FedNor.

Lombardy live webcams

Here's a SooToday collection of Lombardy webcams. These cameras work best during daylight hours. There's a six-hour time difference between the Sault and Milan. For example, at the time of writing it was 2 p.m. in the Sault, 8 p.m. in Milan.

Milan - San Babila Milan - Piazza Velasca 5 Milan - Piazza Cavour 2 Milan - Piazza Cavour 1 Milan - Via Vincenzo Monti 41 Milan - Students at the Fashion Design School Milan - Internet lab at Science Museum Milan - 23 traffic cams Brescia - 11 webcams

You tell us

Your comments about the proposed Italian initiative are welcome in the News Response feature on our editorial page.