Nico Fontana - CEO - Montecolino

Since I was a child, when people asked me what do you want to be when you grow up? I always said the farmer! The other children dreamed of becoming footballers or astronauts but I stood out from the others because I felt the call of nature! Fate led me at the age of ten to move from the big city to the top of a hill in the woods. My favorite games were climbing trees, running in meadows and being around animals. That’s why when it came to choosing high school I had no doubts and I chose the Wine School of Alba. There is no doubt that having lived adolescence and youth in this period and in this environment something leaves you!! The friendships are still linked to school friends which in the meantime have switched to selling wine around the world. After the period related to enology, after a small experience in a winery, not being the son of art like many of my companions, I decided to start my university degree in Economics and Commerce. In the meantime, however, I have never abandoned my dream of being a farmer and I have transformed my hobby into work to create a small farm dedicated to the production of hazelnuts. My father was very different from me and I never thought I would follow in his footsteps but, one night at dinner in a restaurant I asked him to write my thesis on his company. It was the beginning of a story that for over 20 years led me to live on the shores of Iseo Lake where my brother and I are continuing my father’s project. Today, I am the CEO of Montecolino, a company specialized in the production of carpets and textile coverings. Without knowing it, my destiny was written in the heart of the company’s name. The word eco was not included at the table, but is the name of the promontory of Lake Iseo where the company was born in 1971. The word "Montecolino" was not inserted without meaning, but it is the name of the promontory of Iseo Lake where the company was born in 1971. Being the carpet, in Italy, a product slightly out of fashion (you can say a bit 'loser!) we had to adapt to what our market demanded of us. Doormats, carpets for cars, home carpets, wall coverings and mainly the Exhibition Carpets! Fortunately from this point of view Italy is at the 4th place in the world ranking. Since I started working I have always carefully observed the environmental issues and immediately I started to separate the production waste with the aim of promote them as much as possible.