In Bomporto, in the Modena area, a company was established, a little over twenty years ago, in the world of real estate and construction, committed to all phases of the supply chain. The goal: to guarantee the customer the best product. Giampaolo Colletti interviews Leonardo Borghi Gibertoni, CFO and R&D Manager of Leonardo srl for FARE INSIEME.
by Giampaolo Colletti
@gpcolletti
Photocredit: Giacomo Maestri and Francesca Aufiero
There's a sound that always comes back, almost like the soundtrack of destiny. It's the sound of pencils etching lines on a blank sheet of paper. A familiar sound, halfway between intuition and design. It's a thought that becomes action, transforming into something special. Well, that sound in Bomporto, a small Emilian town in the Modena area with just over ten thousand souls, has become a business. Because from these narrow streets between the banks and the fog, between the Panaro River and the fields that disappear into the horizon, a story is born that speaks of construction, but first and foremost of community. It was 2003 when two souls decided to connect the dots. She is Manuela Gibertoni, born in 1966, a surveyor who grew up in the industrious province where the smell of fresh cement mingled with that of ploughed earth. He is Giuseppe Gelati, an entrepreneur with a concrete yet dreamy vision. From that meeting, Leonardo Srl was established, a company that today has two partners, four internal employees, four permanent collaborators, and a broadening network of suppliers. A company that has chosen to remain rooted in Bomporto, even though its gaze extends far beyond the regional borders. «We started out as freelancers who collaborated with local businesses. My mother wanted to connect these dots, condensing them into collaborations that are still ongoing», says Leonardo Borghi Gibertoni, 24 years old and the second generation in the company, now a member of the Confindustria Emilia Youth Group for the Central Area as well as CFO and R&D Manager of Leonardo Srl, who has been working at the company for the past five years. Simple words, but that convey the meaning of a choice: starting small and then doing things big.
Evolution of the company. In twenty years, the market has changed radically. Sustainability, home automation, energy efficiency, and extreme customisation have arrived. Yet one value remains the same for Leonardo: trust. «What has remained constant is the centrality of construction quality as well as the value of trust with customers and the local community», says Borghi Gibertoni. Trust that spreads from businesses to public administrations to families, because building also means entering into people's daily lives. Hence, construction sites that become stories. Production sectors, urbanisations, the redevelopment of historic spaces. And then the one hundred and twenty new homes built in Bomporto between 2020 and 2024, a symbol of a tailored approach. «Building and selling directly to families means entering into their personal lives. We don't have a standard. We start with people», Borghi Gibertoni specifies. A statement that is both a manifesto and a method. Not everything, however, was straightforward. The 2008 crisis forced us to stop, rethink, and recalibrate. Then came the 2012 earthquake, which struck Emilia deeply. But here too, the test turned into strength: «One of the most rewarding moments was certainly the resilience demonstrated during the earthquake, when the buildings designed by Leonardo remained unscathed. It was a painful transition, but it strengthened us.» The numbers confirm a rising path: in 2024, the integrated revenue, including the subsidiaries G&G Immobiliare and Trascar Spa, reached almost €6 million, +61.8% compared to the previous year. Every year, approximately 2% is invested in research and development. Innovation, therefore, is a key choice.
Technologies and people . Connected smart buildings, IoT, and intelligent sensors. Photocatalytic cements that self-clean and contrast pollution. Green roofs, agrivoltaics, bio-based wood, BIM integrated with artificial intelligence. It's a technical lexicon that translates into everyday images: more resilient cities, homes that breathe with their inhabitants, communities that become safer. But even before technology, there are people. The team is young and
dynamic, made up of engineers, architects, and technicians with transversal skills ranging from sustainability to automation. It's human capital that represents the future. A future that Gibertoni describes as follows: «We're looking at smart buildings managed by AI, innovative materials with low environmental impact, projects in agrivoltaics and urban resilience. We want to continue to be a point of reference in the modern construction landscape, combining solidity, aesthetics, and innovation.» Leonardo isn't just about building. It's an alliance with community stakeholders, the revitalitation of urban centres, and respect for places and people. It's the ability to start from a tiny detail – a pencil etching a blank sheet of paper – to arrive at a larger plan. A venture that never stops thinking ahead, because the future is imagined and built every day. A future that, if you look closely, combines solidity, aesthetics, and innovation.
https://podcast.confindustriaemilia.it/
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