|
|
|
Sons
of Italy Opens Offices in Italy
WASHINGTON, February 24, 2003 - The Order Sons
of Italy in America (OSIA), the largest and oldest national
organization for men and women of Italian heritage in
the United States, has opened offices in eight cities
in Italy.
"The dedicated professionals in these offices will
greatly assist the Sons of Italy in conducting business,
networking and strengthening its cultural and commercial
ties with Italy," said OSIA National Executive Director
Philip R. Piccigallo, Ph.D.
The OSIA offices are in Rome, Milan, Florence, Venice,
Perugia, Pescara, Ancona and Arezzo, cities in northern
and central Italy. OSIA also plans offices in southern
Italy, says OSIA National President Robert A. Messa. "Expansion
of our substantive relations with Italy is foremost on
OSIA's national agenda," Messa said.
All OSIA outreach in Italy will be coordinated through
OSIA's Rome representative, Luigi Giuliano, Esq., at:
Corso Vittorio Emanuele II, #154, 00186 Rome (Tel.: 011
39 06 68 33 86). He and the other OSIA representatives
in Italy will take direction from Messa, Piccigallo and
the OSIA National Office in Washington, D.C.
This is the first time in OSIA's 98-year history that
it will have official representation in Italy. The landmark
initiative was launched during Piccigallo's recent official
visit to Italy Feb. 9-15, the second in four months. Accompanying
him was international businessman Vincenzo Marra, OSIA's
ambassador to Italy, who was a major force in coordinating
the initiative.
During his visit, Piccigallo met with Italy's Prime Minister
Silvio Berlusconi and members of Italy's Council of Ministers
and Cabinet, including: Valentino Valentini of the President's
office; Carlo Giovanardi, minister for parliamentary relations;
Pier Ferdinando Casini, president of the Chamber of Deputies;
Sen. Renato Schifani, leader of Berlusconi's Forza Italia
political party; Paolo Bonaiuti, spokesman for the Council
of Ministers and Sen. Vittorio Pessina of Bergamo.
Piccigallo extended an official OSIA message of gratitude
and pride for Italy's strong alliance with the United
States in the war against globa terrorism.
The OSIA executive also met with Gabriele Albertini, mayor
of Milan, and Giovanni Marra, president of the Municipal
Council of Milan, as well as with the regional leaders
of Lombardy and Tuscany and municipal and business leaders
from Venice, Perugia, Pescara and Arezzo, among others.
Established in 1905, OSIA has more than 600,000 members
and supporters and a network of 745 chapters coast to
coast. OSIA works at the communit national and international
level to promote the heritage and culture of an estimated
26 million Italian Americans, the nation's fifth largest
ethnic group, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. To
learn more, visit OSIA on the Web at www.osia.org.
Back to top
|
|
|
|
