Ceramiche Noi: The owner wants to move the factory to Armenia, but the employees buy it.

Alone, with their courage and hard work, they managed to avoid squandering their future and the assets of a small company, a true jewel of Made in Italy, bridging the gap between industry and high-quality craftsmanship. The story, which lends itself to a television drama, takes place in Città di Castello, Umbria, where in the summer of 2019, the owner of the Ceramisia company informs his workers that he has received an offer to relocate the factory to Armenia. And he intends to accept.

CERAMICS US

But the game isn't over, also because Ceramiche Noi's production isn't out of the market, either in terms of costs or revenue, and so the employees decide to acquire the company themselves , applying the "Workers Buyout" law from way back in 1985. With the help of Legacoop Umbria, they form a cooperative and comply with a law that has been quite successful in Italy: in the last 10 years, 78 companies have been acquired by former employees, with an 82 percent success rate.

CITY OF CASTELLO CERAMICS US

Once the cooperative was created, the former Ceramisia workers became the owners of the company , which became Ceramiche Noi : 11 of the 15 employees, 4 women and 7 men, joined the project. They put everything they had on the table and risked it, just as Enzo Muscia had done when he bought his bankrupt factory : their NASPI (Naspi), unemployment benefits, and severance pay. They weren't looking for subsidies or protection, but simply for orders for their high-quality products.

THE ANTIBACTERIAL PLATE

The project is working, and today Ceramiche Noi , despite the Covid-19 storm and the pandemic, is a healthy company with good market prospects , capable of exporting approximately 90 percent of its production to the United States. It's also a company capable of ingenious innovations, such as the freshly baked antibacterial plate, capable of repelling 99 percent of bacteria.

Lorenzo Giornelli, sales manager at Ceramiche Noi, explains: "Since the antibacterial treatment is applied during the hot-pressed production process, it becomes incorporated into the plate and lasts its entire life. It fixes to the plate like a paint or glaze, and resists any washing, without altering the aesthetic beauty of the plate. It's a product we offer to individual consumers, the hotel and restaurant industry, and cruise ships." Giornelli also has a tattoo on his arm, which he shares with all the shareholder-employees of Ceramiche Noi. It reads: "All for one, a dream for all."

"Ceramiche noi" is a candidate for the 2021 Non Sprecare Award in the "Companies" section. To submit your projects, follow the instructions here.

STORIES OF COURAGEOUS WORKERS AND ENTREPRENEURS:

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