Corporate Visits

My courses envision on-site visits which can last from half a day to a three-day weekend. My classes at Temple Rome or at The American University of Rome regularly have gone to the following places:

Brussels to visit the European Union institutions and interact with top officials of the Commission, the Council of the EU or the Parliament, as well as with NATO officials.

London where the students get to interact with V-P of leading international banks (eg, ING), the US Executive Director at the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, US Embassy officials and editors of the Financial Times; they also get to visit the HQs of Bloomberg in the City.

Sicily where we visit City Hall to meet the Mayor of Catania, the owners of the TORRISI coffee-roasting company, the top management of oil refining companies in Augusta where we also take a tour of the harbor on a Coast Guard boat, the international marketing director of the ORANFRESH company producing orange-squeezing machines worldwide, a printing company, the dairy company ZAPPALA' and the COLLERONI fruit packaging company in Pedagaggi.

Over the years I have organized long weekend trips to Milan to visit the 2015 EXPO grounds while also giving a chance to the students to meet with the US Commissioner General for the Expo, the US Consul General, the Mayor of Milan, the President of the City Assembly, managers of leading Italian companies such as CAMPARI, MOLTENI, ROCKWELL AUTOMATION, etc.

In a series of visits to the North-Eastern region of Italy, my students have met with the owner of the GEOX company, with his son who runs the DIADORA sportswear company, the international marketing managers of BENETTON, of the TOGNANA ceramic company and of the DE LONGHI appliance company. We have also been welcomed by the Patriarch of Venice and the Mayor of the city.

Several times I have led groups of students to Genoa to become directly acquainted with the business model of the Cinqueterre national park as well as with the particulars of the harbor and of local companies such as SOGEGROSS, ANSALDO, SELEX ES, ITALIAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY and many others. On those occasions my students have met with the Mayor of Genoa, the President of the Liguria Region and the Cardinal of that diocese.

Two or three times a year I take my students to the Umbria Region to visit the MONINI oil company, the NOVELLI wine company and the GRAZIA ceramic firm.

Upon the request of Clarkson University, I have organized study trips to the Campania Region where I have locked in private visits to the GAROFALO pasta company, the LA TORRENTE tomato canning company, the world-renowned VILLA MASSA limoncello company, as well as the KITON men’s high fashion company. These tours usually envision a stop at the Vesuvius volcano, a visit to Sorrento or Capri and to the archeological site of Pompei.

I have also organized other long weekend trips to Rimini/San Marino, Pescara, Florence and even Paris. Depending on the needs of the students I am able to put together an itinerary with intensive visits to companies in tune with the specific interests of the group in question. I can do the same for other universities which might lack the contacts in the business sectors of Italy and Europe at large.

In Rome I can organize ad hoc visits either to institutions (eg, Senate, Chamber of Deputies, Prime Minister’s Office, HQs of the President of the Republic, City Hall, US Embassy, etc.) or to companies which operate in various sectors such as food, fashion and hi-tech.

As I have already done with some Villanova students, I can also organize practicum sessions for students who want to do some hands-on work for companies located in the province of Rome. The Villanova students conducted research work in groups and wrote marketing plans for companies in the wine and food sector in Rome or near-by.