Milesi spa is among the sponsors of the 15th edition of the Women's Tour, the women's cycle racing competition involving the most important teams on a worldwide level. Milesi spa gave their active contribution to sport - in particular to women's bicycle racing - by taking part to the 2004 edition of this contest as a sponsor. The Women's Tour 2004 will start on Friday, July 2 from Pordenone - it will travel across Friuli, Veneto, and Switzerland, then it will come back to Lombardy to end in Milan, at the Sforza Castle, on Sunday, July 11.

Stages

Friday, 2	Start from Pordenone, 8.30 pm	Km. 2.8
Saturday, 3	1st stage, 12.15 pm, Pordenone - Montereale Valcellina	Km. 106.0
Sunday, 4	2nd stage, 12.15 pm, Montereale Valcellina - Monfalcone (Gorizia)	Km. 120.0
Monday, 5	3rd stage, 12.15 pm, Cornuda - Crocetta del Montello (Treviso)	Km. 133.0
Tuesday, 6	4th stage, 12.15 pm, Bareggio - Bareggio (Milan)	Km. 118.4
Wednesday, 7	5th stage, 10.15 am, Briga - Leukerbad (Switzerland)	Km. 45.4
Thursday, 8	6th stage, 12.15 pm, Sovico - Lazzate (Milan)	Km. 101.8
Friday, 9	7th stage, 12.15 pm, Pozzo d'Adda - Oggiono (Lecco)	Km. 90.0
Saturday, 10	8th stage, 12.15 pm, Oggiono - Magreglio Madonna del Ghisallo	Km. 91.3
Sunday, 11	9th stage, 12.15 pm, Lesmo - Milan	Km. 70.9

'We participated in this initiative with enthusiasm - says Mr. Dario Carezzano, Business Manager Milesi spa - one of the stages will just pass from Bareggio, where Milesi spa has been based for over 40 years. In the beginning, we only wanted to sponsor the Bareggio stage, but then we became the co-sponsor of the whole Tour. The step, or better the… 'pedal thrust'... has been short! According to our opinion, sports values should always be supported - sports help us to face our lives and to make our children develop in full health. In the framework of this first experience, we want to support bike racing, and in particular the women's category because, according to our opinion, women rightly deserve best visibility, both in sports and in life. All these initiatives are admirable, both because of their values and because of their substance'.

'Moreover, under the point of view of business - continues Mr. Dario Carezzano - these activities also qualify as targeted investments, also because their importance is increasing'.

A big inflatable Milesi traditional tin of rubber (5 m height) was produced for this special occasion - further advertising activities will be carried out during each stage. With this initiative, Milesi spa opens a new chapter of sports sponsorships - a proof for their engagement in sports and in their values, with special attention to women's sports.

Milesi spa has been specializing in wood paints for almost 60 years. Today they are proud to inform you that on May 27, in a prestigious location (the 'Room of Cries' of Palazzo Mezzanotte, the base of the Italian Stock Exchange), the first meeting 'Meeting of the Milesi Partners in the World' was held, together with corporate top-level officers and Italian and foreign business organizations. Almost 200 people from Italy and from the whole world participated in this meeting, tackled several issues, and established a dialogue with the Company on future strategic objectives. The following day, the whole business network met in the Milesi stand of the SASMIL/XYLEPO fair held of Milan (May 26 to 30).

Eng. Massimo Milesi, Milesi spa President, Mr. Dario Carezzano, Business Manager, participated in the meeting together with exceptional testimonials and speakers, among which the Honorable Member of Parliament Mr. Renato Brunetta, Professor and Member of the European Parliament, and Professor Diego Vanuzzo, Cardiologist and Manager of the Cardiovascular Prevention Center of Udine.

Speakers dealt with the following topics:

The meeting ended with a Gala Dinner in the 'Room of Cries' - a convivial moment that fostered opinion exchanges in a more informal environment and allowing participants to compare the past, the present, and the future of the Company.

'This event definitively had to be a universal event - says Mr. Dario Carezzano, Business Manager Milesi spa - to further stress that our Company - a unique company on a worldwide level - is successfully able to introduce the competitiveness of the Italian Culture in the whole world. We invited the MP Mr. Renato and Prof. Vannuzzo to participate as speakers to better convey the meaning of the two basic topics of our corporate mission: improving life quality by carrying out studies and diffusing materials useful to achieve this objectives, and - with a global market in mind - develop best competitiveness together with our local distributors'.

Milesi organized in Manzano (UD), worldwide capital of the chair, an high profile meeting, entitled: "Technological advantages for the future of the chair", held at the Rosazzo Abbey on 28th October.

The meeting was composed by a first introduction phase, and by a series of technical interventions of Milesi Executives. The goal was to clearly compare the different technologies available in the field of the Chair and to build, with concrete elements, a global picture of the different possibilities and options at the entrepreneurs' disposal to increase their competitiveness.

In the second part a forum was in the agenda to compare the opinions deriving from different points of view: the designer's, the industrial's, the journalist's, the doctor's and the bank president's.
The Act of the Meeting are available in Italian (file Acrobat or print); to receive a copy, please send an e-mail (to the attention of the Sales Department) to our address milesi@milesi.com

PROGRAM

16.00	Registration
16.10	Greeting to participants Mr Fausto Borghi
16.20	"Osservatorio Milesi": how to compete in an evolving world Mr Dario Carezzano - Sales Manager
16.40	Comparing items: quality, environmental effect and effect on the quality of work, competitiveness Mr Aureliano Dalla Valle - Technical Manager Mr Elia Maestroni - Sales Technical Service Responsible
17.20	Adding value to the "chair": cycles vs. performances Mr Renato Canu - Products Development Manager Mr Andrea Losi - Water Products Development
18.10	Comparing reflections and ideas Arch. Adriano Balutto - Designer and Project Engineer Mr. Sandro Calligaris - Owner of Calligaris Spa Mr. Rossano Cattivello - Economics journalist of the Giornale del Friuli Dr. Diego Vanuzzo - Director of Cardiovascular Care Centre of Udine, Secretary of the Heart League Dr. Pierluigi Zamò - President of the Banca di Credito Cooperativo di Manzano Moderator: Dario Carezzano - Sales Manager
19.20	Conclusions

The meeting was successful; about forty companies took part to it, apart from the representatives of the associations, among which Promosedia, and of the Local Administrations, in the first place the Major of Manzano. The outburst was amplified even by news reports realised and broadcasted by Rai 3 (Regional news and radio) and by the local network Antenna 3 Friuli.

Through the meeting, Milesi surely spread an image of itself both positive and proposing, thus presenting itself as a leading company, active and careful to the needs of its customers. Let's summarise few items arisen from the interventions of the lecturers during the workshop. Even with different points of view, deriving from personal experiences, all lecturers highlighted the same indications to overcome the crisis.

- Research, innovation, marketing
- Joint ventures aiming at strengthening the business

Arch. Adriano Balutto - Designer and Project Engineer
Design anticipates and changes the world and must be: pleasant, useful and convenient. The growth of Italian design and of the related Made in Italy has been continuous up to 2000. Nowadays, it is well-known all over the world even if now it has to face foreign "competitiveness". Chinese production, for example, has reached a quality corresponding to ours, and some times better then ours. Therefore our "world" needs NEW IDEAS, our most precious value. The business field lets perceive a kind of immobility that, though feeling the seriousness of the crisis, does not activate to search any kind of innovation, but tends to live of the "ancient" splendours of Made in Italy

Mr Sandro Calligaris - Owner of Calligaris Spa
To afford all markets and to overcome the competitors we need: Product + Quality + Design + Communication. The globalisation homogenises all tastes and therefore the consumes, in a worldwide market where the products tends to be all equal, Made in Italy is an winning since it is appreciated all over the world. To reassert the local product it is necessary to aim at research and innovation, design, marketing and also at the constitution of a quality brand. The solution of decentralising in economically more convenient countries the less technological works, transferring even methods and company techniques is also winning. Instead it is convenient to maintain in Italy the most technically committing works, researching more convenient production solutions and developing production and commercial offer according to the rush evolution of the markets. Marketing invests a strategic importance, particularly focusing on the brand and on its contents as concerns service image.

Dr. Diego Vanuzzo - Director of Cardiovascular Care Centre of Udine, Secretary of the Heart League
We live just 2% of our time outdoors and, as a consequence we do not only have to pay attention to air pollution, but also to evaluate if our house is "sick" ("Sick building syndrome"). Painting products, free from toxic emissions, can even represent, if adequately exploited, a commercial advantage, since the consumer is more and more sensitive towards these items. Considering that poor physical activity is one of the most common causes of cardiovascular diseases, the chair, traditional tool for resting, can also be seen as a touchstone of a marketing strategy that presents the chair itself as break between two moments of physical activity.

Mr Rossano Cattivello - Economics journalist of the "Giornale del Friuli"
The term INNOVATION has become an actual "fashion", a flag to wave in politic speeches at all levels. There's therefore a diffused opinion that innovation is the winning strategy to overcome the crisis. But the outpost of innovation is research, that cannot be totally financed by institutions. Small companies do not own the economical resources to invest in research, but when joining and defining common targets, they could obtain certain results. In Friuli Venezia Giulia there are Research Centres, which mainly deal with theoretical and not applied research. A better co-ordination among the needs of the companies, could contribute in addressing the research towards most adequate and useful studies even for the needs of the field.

Dr. Pierluigi Zamò - President of the Bank "Credito Cooperativo di Manzano"
We are dealing with a structural crisis that needs important changes to be solved. Even if with a general crisis in the consumes, the building market has experienced a great growth, as the lease for the purchase of the house. It is not possible to state the same for the purchase of furniture, that, strangely enough, did not follow the same trend. The interest rates are lower and it is the moment to invest and join to obtain a competitive strength. The critical areas particularly concerns office chairs, saw-mills and particularly third parties, that to overcome the crisis cannot postpone the investments in advanced technology. Furthermore they should orient towards market segments and, where necessary, associate among them.