Paolo Sassi elected Chairman of Acimac

Paolo Sassi has been elected as Acimac’s new chairman for the four-year period 2016-2020. The election was held during the Members’ Meeting held at the Association’s headquarters on Friday 24 June, when Sassi officially took over from Fabio Tarozzi.

"I am inheriting a big responsibility from Fabio Tarozzi. I will work hard to fulfil my duty at the head of the Association and will do everything possible to improve its already excellent standing at a national and international level," said Sassi in his speech. "We will endeavour to continue our growth and to provide tools and services to promote international development, to nurture professional skills and to increase the size of our companies."

The key items on the newly-elected Chairman’s agenda include strengthening association services such as the SBS training school, the Research Centre, and the international communication and development activities, including participation in trade fairs, events and networking activities aimed at communicating the excellence of the sector. Further key goals of the next four years include trade fair policy, with the aim of maintaining the leadership role of the exhibition Tecnargilla and increasing its level of internationalisation, and further expanding the association’s membership, which already accounts for 85% of the sector’s turnover, by reaching out to all companies in the ceramic industry supply chain.

Paolo Sassi, born in Scandiano (Reggio Emilia) on 18 April 1955, began working at BMR Costruzioni Meccaniche in 1985 as a sales engineer. In 1990 he acquired a stake in the new company BMR Spa, a leading player in the production of end-of-line machinery for the ceramic industry. In 2001 he became the majority shareholder and took the position of Chairman. In 2004 BMR acquired Cemar, a company based in Schio (Vicenza) specialising in the production of polishing machines, of which Sassi was appointed Chairman. This acquisition further strengthened BMR’s leading role in the design and production of complete lines for polishing/honing and treatment and for scoring/snapping and squaring of ceramic tiles and panels. In 2016 BMR also opened a logistics centre in Dickson, Tennessee (USA).