This past June, the Italian community had a panel discussion with students and researchers coming directly from Italy to study and research at universities in the United States. The panel discussion centered around the reasons why Italian students were choosing St Louis as a destination to study and conduct research. Club Italiano Per Piacere, dedicated to preserving and promoting Italian language and culture, hosted the event which drew the attention of numerous businesses in the region.

On October 3rd, Club Italiano Per Piacere will again have a panel discussion this time with Italian entrepreneurs, small business owners, and startups in the St Louis Metropolitan area. Professor Michele Boldrin, former Dean of Economics at Washington University will lead the panel. Prof. Boldrin is one of the world's leading economists and came to St Louis in 2006. He was born in Venice.

The following Italian entrepreneurs will be interviewed following a dinner at Pan D'Olive Restaurant:

Giorgio Bucci - President and CEO of Arteco Global. Giorgio's company produces video surveillance software. He comes from Emilia-Romagna and attended Saint Louis University's MBA program after which he founded his own company which he still leads today. In 2014, Giorgio was elected to the Young Presidents Organization (YPO).

Alessio Iadicicco and Tiffany Chimal - President and CEO of MakersValley. Alessio's company is headquartered in Downtown St Louis after receiving a grant from T-Rex, a startup incubator. The company connects designers and Italian manufacturers for private label. Alessio comes from Naples and his wife Tiffany comes from the US.

Luciano Racca - Partner with Azienda Agricola Raineri Gianmatteo and Representative with Ionia Atlantic Imports. Luciano is a wine connoisseur and wine-maker who comes from Piemonte, in northwestern Italy. He produces wine in his hometown which he then sells not only in St Louis but the rest of the US.

Sara Di Benedetto - President and CEO of Loliettoo and Coccoon. Sara is a mother and entrepreneur. Her company is developing a worldwide community of selected oleaginous seed farmers for the local production of vegetable oils destined to satisfy the growing international demand from cosmetic, food, chemical and pharmaceutical industries. Coccoon is the first cosmetic line of Lolietto which produces soaps lotions made directly from unique pure and crude vegetable oils. Sara comes from Genoa, Liguria.

Nunzio Sardo - Executive Managing Director of Piva Group S.p.A. The Piva Group are makers of aluminum and PVC windows, doors, and shutters for residential use and prefabricated panels with mineral wool insulation, polyurethane and polystyrene. The Piva Group won the Missouri Chamber of Industry Award for fastest growing company in the state. Nunzio comes from Sicily.

The event will take place on October 3rd at Pan D'Olive Restaurant located at 1603 McCausland Ave, St. Louis, MO 63117. The dinner will begin at 6:30pm. Tickets for this event are $30 per person for club members and $35 for non-members. For more information please contact Scott Hoff at [email protected] or Michael J Cross at [email protected]