Brescia, Italy. A new chapter is opening in the entrepreneurial history of Valerio Zanaglio, founder and president of Zato, a Brescia-based company specialising in metal recycling plants.
His appointment to the Board of Directors of the National Italian American Foundation (NIAF), announced during a ceremony held in Rome on the occasion of the foundation’s 50th anniversary, represents a significant recognition for someone who has been promoting a sustainable industrial model deeply rooted in Italian values through his work for many years.
Zanaglio, head of a company that designs and manufactures technologies for the treatment of scrap metal, electric motors, tyres, copper and aluminium, proudly accepted the new position: ‘It is an honour to be part of NIAF. This role represents a concrete opportunity to strengthen cultural and economic ties between Italy and the United States, making our industrial experience available.’
Valerio Zanaglio’s Zato opens in Hebron, USA
Founded in Prevalle, in the province of Brescia, Zato has been present on the US market since 2016. However, it is in 2022 that the company will reach full maturity in the United States, consolidating its presence with a complete operational structure. This process will continue shortly with the opening of a new headquarters that will house offices, a warehouse and a technical assistance centre.
The facility will enable the company to offer direct support to North American customers, guaranteeing prompt delivery of spare parts, on-site maintenance and increasingly competitive logistics times.
Zato North America does not just export machinery, but an integrated industrial model: custom-designed systems, tested entirely in Italy, and an after-sales service designed to maximise productivity and efficiency. A model that, in concrete terms, is already delivering tangible results: in several cases, American customers who have introduced the Blue Devil as a pre-shredder alongside existing lines have proudly reported a doubling of the material processed, together with transport cost efficiency well above expectations.
‘We didn’t think we would see such clear benefits in such a short time,’ is the recurring comment. ‘Machine downtime has been drastically reduced, the output size is more uniform, and logistics has benefited immediately.’
Valerio Zanaglio joins the NIAF Board of Directors
Valerio Zanaglio’s appointment to head NIAF — the most authoritative foundation for the protection of Italian-American culture and identity — is part of a process of consolidating relations between the Italian production system and the overseas industrial community.
This community is looking with interest at solutions for the circular economy in a sector — metal recycling — that continues to be strategic on a global scale.
Over the course of its fifty years of activity, NIAF has invested over $10 million in study programmes, cultural exchanges and educational projects to strengthen the bond between young Italian-Americans and their roots. A bond that today is also enriched by the entrepreneurial vision of those who, like Valerio Zanaglio, have been able to bring Italian industrial ingenuity to an international scale, without ever losing sight of quality, the environment and the territory.
