Rinascimento Program: €30 million for Bergamo’s post-COVID relaunch
To help one of Italy’s hardest-hit areas by COVID-19, the Bergamo Municipality and Intesa Sanpaolo have launched the Rinascimento Program, which translates as the “Rebirth Program”. The initiative, with €30 million made available by the Bank, was presented today by the Mayor of Bergamo, Giorgio Gori, and Intesa Sanpaolo’s CEO, Carlo Messina.
We are honored that Intesa Sanpaolo has chosen Bergamo to experiment with this unprecedented and innovative form of cooperation between Local Government and a Financial Institution – that will then be extended to other areas – and we will make every effort to ensure that it fully benefits our community.
Giorgio Gori, Mayor of Bergamo
The Rinascimento Program will be used to support Bergamo’s micro-enterprises and small businesses as they start up again but find themselves in difficulty and do not qualify for subsidies or financial grants from central or regional institutions.
The Rinascimento Program includes €3 million of non-repayable grants to cover expenses that artisans and small businesses faced during the lockdown.
These grants will be accompanied by innovative impact loans, for a total of €20 million, to help Bergamo’s smaller businesses make the investments required to adapt their spaces and services to the new reality of life alongside COVID-19; the impact loans may in turn be combined with non-repayable grants for an additional €7 million.
Impact loans are new and innovative financial tools that offer extended extended repayment terms and highly advantageous rates.
These measures may also be granted to businesses hit by severe drops in turnover even after they reopen – for example tourism-related activities – or start-ups created to meet the new needs and lifestyles that will characterize post-COVID life.
The Rinascimento Program will also provide incentives for sustainable mobility as an alternative to the use of private cars for commuting between home and work.
The total amount of €10 million available for non-repayable grants will be paid into the Mutual Aid Fund created by the Bergamo Municipality to help relaunch the city following the Coronavirus emergency and will be used specifically for private business activities.
The agreement between the Bergamo Municipality and Intesa Sanpaolo also foresees services to assist companies in planning their projects. This activity, together with disbursement, monitoring and reporting related to the non-repayable grants, will be managed by the non-profit CESVI Fondazione.
The Rinascimento Program born thanks to the generous contribution of Intesa Sanpaolo is an extraordinary form of support and assistance for our City’s economic ecosystem.
Giorgio Gori, Mayor of Bergamo
One of the initiatives agreed with the Bergamo Municipality is the first-time use of impact loans, a highly-innovative tool even at the international level. These loans offer extended repayment terms and provide resources dedicated to businesses with high social impact on the Bergamo-area business ecosystem, whose acclaimed industriousness will serve as an extra boost to restarting the Country.
Carlo Messina, CEO of Intesa Sanpaolo
Last updated 13 May 2020 at 13:41:45
