Banca dei Territori, a branch of Intesa Sanpaolo, has welcomed 12 Italian small and medium-sized firms to San Francisco that have demonstrated innovation and growth potential. Flying across the ocean were Aton and Galdi (both from Treviso), Icop (Udine), Las Mobili (Teramo), Mac&Nil (Bari), Malvestio (Padua), Manta Group (Foggia), Martinorossi (Cremona), Move (Lucca), Podium Engineering (Aosta), Rain (Milan), Santini (Bergamo): companies ranging from food to software, from infrastructure to machinery. "It would be a grave error", argue the bank's officials, "to be discouraged from entering the United States by tariffs. This country remains the most appealing geographically, so tariffs cannot deter us. This century will be characterized by the success of our small and medium-sized enterprises, as manufacturing is becoming more challenging globally, despite our preeminence in this field". The objective of the mission was to either promote research, encourage local investment, or, ultimately, replicate the conditions that were observed in California in Italy.