Among the thoughts of Valter Baldaccini: community and social responsibility

A few weeks ago in the column Among the thoughts of Valter Baldaccini we shared the value that Valter attributed to work, which for Valter has an important social function, that is to connect and unite people, ideas, objectives and together act for the good of all.

“A more just society can be created through work” (Valter Baldaccini, Christmas greetings, 2001).

Representing a solid and structured reality, a reference for the local economy, for Valter was synonymous with greater responsibility towards the same territory: continuing to grow and create wealth in order to redistribute it, this was the social purpose of work for Valter.

“Umbra Cuscinetti is an important component in the social and industrial fabric of Foligno and our Region. There is a responsibility towards the community which means both making a commitment to do one's job well, to maintain and possibly increase employment, and creating an environment on a human scale, ensuring respect for everyone" (Valter Baldaccini, inauguration of the new Umbra Cuscinetti plant, 16 October 2003).

It is the concept of community that guides Valter's economic activity: combining business and respect for the person, profit and sharing.

"It is essential, in my opinion, that forward-looking entrepreneurs do not think only of mere profit or only of maximizing it, but that they operate in the interest of society. This is what Pope Benedict XVI also said in Caritas in Veritate: we must work for the common good. The common good means that yes it is true that companies have a duty to create wealth, but we must also try to share this wealth, first of all with our employees, trying to best protect their expectations and those of their families. And then, since the world has now become a village, we cannot think that we are fine in Foligno, we are fine in Perugia, and there the world ends. And this is the message I would like to give (…) because profit is fine, but we must combine it with solidarity" (Interview with Valter Baldaccini, June 2012).

An idea therefore of a generative and inclusive economy, for a world in which everyone must do their part, to make room for everyone. An idea of wealth to be given to others, which still lives today through the humanitarian projects and socio-educational projects of the Valter Baldaccini Foundation.

In the photograph, Valter Baldaccini is with Dr. Mariolina Frigeri who today sits on the Scientific Committee of the Valter Baldaccini Foundation. The photograph was taken in 2011 during the inauguration of the Children's Library in Foligno, a beautiful example of Valter’s concrete commitment to the community.