Turin has been chosen as the Capital of Business Culture 2024. The candidacy had been launched in May, at the Book Fair, by Unione Industriali Torino as the promoting party. "Alongside the entrepreneurial legacy of which we are the custodians, the emphasis was placed on the future of our community, particularly the young generation: an approach that the committee appreciated and rewarded.

In fact, it is the young people who are the main recipients of the project and the activities we proposed," Giorgio Marsiaj, president of the Industrial Union, a point of reference for more than 2,000 member companies ranging from engineering to the advanced tertiary sector, from food & beverage to tourism, explains to Millionaire.

The idea for this recognition was born in Confindustria in 2019 when, in the wake of the Capitals of Culture promoted by the Ministry of Culture, it was decided to implement a similar initiative to enhance local economies, with the aim of boosting the growth of urban and metropolitan areas. The Capital is not necessarily a provincial capital but is identified with a city, district or metropolitan area characterized by a strong and specific identity element in doing business. In 2019 the choice had fallen on Genoa, in 2020 on Alba (title retained for the following year as well, due to Covid-19). In 2022, a district represented by the cities of Venice, Padua, Treviso and Rovigo had emerged. In 2023 it had been Pavia's turn.

The program of Turin Capital of Business Culture 2024, will unfold along a calendar divided into 24 moments and will propose 24 permanent visiting routes, in which it will be possible to discover the most advanced Turin is proposing globally in the main sectors of the industrial system. Another relevant element of the presented project is the connection with other Piedmontese, Italian and international locations.

The designation as Capital of Business Culture is not surprising, given the city's marked entrepreneurial vocation. In fact, it was here that, in 1906, first the Industrial League was founded and then, in 1910, the General Confederation of Italian Industry, today's Confindustria. Turin, then, is a city of large factories and large companies that between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries created wealth and provided jobs for both the people of Turin and the many immigrants who also arrived here from the South and abroad. The first association one makes is of course with Fiat, which was founded here in 1899.

But there are many other companies that have made and are making the city great. There is Caffarel, a confectionery company that produced the first gianduiotti in 1865 and today belongs to the Lindt & Sprüngli group. There is Ferrino, a family business that, based on a German technique, has been waterproofing textiles since 1870, going so far as to supply Fiat and the Italian Army. Today, now in its fifth generation, it is a benchmark for the outdoors. Or again: Martini & Rossi, founded in the city as a distillery in 1847 and since 1993 part of the Bacardi Group. Not to mention Lavazza, founded in Turin in 1895 by Luigi Lavazza.

But also founded in Turin are: the telephone company SIP later to become Telecom Italia, Seat Pagine Gialle, EIAR later to become Rai, Olivetti, Cirio, SAI-Società Assicuratrice Industriale, Reale Mutua Assicurazioni, Toro Assicurazioni, Lancia, Iveco, Italdesign Giugiaro, Seven, and Kappa. As well as banks (Sanpaolo IMI, Cassa di Risparmio di Torino) and publishing houses (Einaudi, Utet).

Turin, despite its ever-vivid manufacturing vocation, is hungry for innovation and is experiencing a transition from an automotive monoculture to a more articulated mix of activities, from aerospace to artificial intelligence, from food to tourism or sports.

In late November, the foundation stone was laid for what will become the Aerospace City: 10,000 square meters of technological development and innovation. Here industrial excellence is allied with the world of academic research to create an ecosystem with an international scope. A place open to integration with large companies, SMEs, incubators, start-ups.