By Chiara Sebastiani
In Vagli, marble is not only an economic resource. It is a constant presence, a legacy that crosses generations and accompanies people’s daily lives. You can perceive it by listening to the stories of Ottavio Baisi, Giorgio Turba and Lorenzo Vannucci: three different stories that end up intertwining in a single narrative made up of work, belonging and passion. To understand what Cooperativa Apuana and Apuana Lavorati represent today, we need to start right here, from a territory where marble is part of the landscape but above all of the collective identity.
Sitting in the modern headquarters of the cooperative, Ottavio Baisi, president since 2014, tells a story that begins on January 12, 1958. Twenty-one founding members decided to join in a cooperative form that was pioneering at the time. Two of them are still alive today, testifying to an entrepreneurial adventure that spans almost seventy years of history. “In Vagli,” says Baisi, “the cooperative is an institution like the church, the football team or the Misericordia.” A definition that immediately gives an idea of the role that this reality plays within a community of just a thousand inhabitants.
The origins lie in the years in which the sector was dominated by Montecatini, which later became Montedison, which held the concessions of the municipal quarries. When in the seventies large industry progressively abandoned the mining sector, it was the workers who took up the legacy. In 1988, with the end of the experience of state participation, all the quarrymen merged into Cooperativa Apuana, giving life to a united reality that came to count over one hundred members. Since then, the work has continued in the locality of Piastra Bagnata, where the marble that represents the heart of the business is still extracted today. Despite the peripheral position and the logistical difficulties typical of a mountain area like Vagli, Cooperativa Apuana has grown to become one of the most important economic realities in the area. In addition to direct employment, it generates a significant satellite business that involves numerous activities in the Garfagnana. But the history of the cooperative is not only that of extraction. It is also the story of the ability to evolve.
“The quarrymen are a bit like marble farmers,” Baisi observes with an effective metaphor. “Those who mine the block often earn less than those who market it.” From this awareness comes the idea of shortening the supply chain and creating value in the territory. In 2014 Apuana Lavorati took shape, a company 60% owned by Cooperativa Apuana and the remaining 40% by Giorgio Turba and Lorenzo Vannucci, entrepreneurs already active in the marketing of marble. The goal is as simple as it is ambitious: to transform a significant part of the production on site, creating a real short marble supply chain. The plant became fully operational in 2016 after a major reclamation of the area and became one of the first Tuscan experiences to concretely apply the principle of local processing promoted by the Tuscany Region. Today the headquarters of Apuana Lavorati and the offices of the cooperative visually tell this evolution. Not far away, as if to remember where it all began, remains the container that for thirty years housed the historic offices of the cooperative.
The company’s growth also passes through a constant presence in the trade fair scene. For years, Cooperativa Apuana and Apuana Lavorati have been participating in Marmomac in Verona, the main international event dedicated to natural stone, consolidating relationships and presence on the reference markets.
But beyond the numbers and investments, what is most striking is the human relationship with work and marble. When Giorgio Turba is asked what still drives him today, at the age of 78, to go to the quarry every morning, the answer comes immediately and sincerely: “I started working when I was eleven. Every day I go to the quarries. If I don’t go, I’m missing something.” In his words there is no nostalgia, but an almost visceral sense of belonging. He tells of when he worked as a child with broken shoes, of a life built step by step and of a passion that has never been extinguished. Then he adds a sentence that is worth more than any technical description: “When I am alone in the quarry I feel like I am talking to the blocks”. It is the story of someone who, after decades of experience, has developed an almost intuitive relationship with stone. Of those who can imagine what is hidden inside a block that is still raw, identifying veins and characteristics that no machine can completely reveal.
“Experience counts,” Lorenzo Vannucci intervenes, “but there is also passion. You have to feel it inside.” It is precisely this passion that has accompanied the evolution of the sector. An evolution that does not only concern technology, but also the relationship with the environment. “Once the quarries were ‘worked’, today they are ‘cultivated’,” says Vannucci. A definition that summarizes the cultural change that has taken place in recent decades. Modern mining activities are in fact subject to rigorous environmental controls and very high safety standards. Cooperativa Apuana has environmental, quality and safety certifications, constantly invests in less impactful machinery and adopts dust abatement and cleaning systems that until a few years ago would have been unthinkable in a quarry. Attention to the territory is also manifested through initiatives that go beyond production activity. Among these, the traditional Concert in the Cava stands out, an event that every year attracts the public and enthusiasts in a unique setting, together with guided tours, religious celebrations and moments of meeting open to the community.
There is also the enhancement of waste. In fact, in the old office container there is ‘Apuana Mosaici’, a small all-female artisan reality, carried out by Ambra and Veronica, who recover non-marketable slabs transforming them into furnishing accessories, mirrors, tables and unique objects. A concrete example of circular economy that creates new employment opportunities in the area.
In a rapidly changing world and in an increasingly global market, today driven mainly by Asia, Cooperativa Apuana and Apuana Lavorati continue to look ahead without forgetting their roots.
Because the real heritage preserved in these mountains is not only marble. They are the people who, generation after generation, have learned to know it, respect it and transform it into a resource for the whole community.
And perhaps this is precisely the secret of a story that has lasted for almost seventy years: the ability to remain faithful to a territory while continuing, at the same time, to innovate.
Info: Cooperativa Apuana Vagli Sopra Soc. Cooperativa, Via Vandelli, 55030 Vagli di Sotto (Lucca) / Tel. 0583 618298 / info@apuanavagli.it / www.apuanavagli.it
Apuana Lavorati Srl, Loc. Isola di Roccalberti – 55031 Camporgiano (Lucca) / Tel. 0583 600325 / info@apuanalavorati.it |/ www.apuanalavorati.it
