Bruno Brusutti, the second son, after his brother Giancarlo, of Gino Brusutti and Giulia Vecchia Brusutti, was born on 9th November 1941. Gino Brusutti, engineer, an eclectic and genial individual, is the founder of the transport company: Brusutti Coach Services and Hire. It is one of the first companies to pass from a culture of rural entrepreneurial activity to an advanced small industry system, due to its attention to the changing life and society.
Passionate violin player, lover of engines, he transformed his favourite hobby, vintage cars, into an intelligent investment, public and private passenger transportation.
The family was pioneering in the transport sector for quality both in Italy and in Europe. From the enthusiasm of the patriarch and from its noble origins, it found the strength to invest.
The young Bruno was sent to the prestigious private school of the Padri Filippini in Paderno del Grappa, and then to the private institute G. Parini where he was granted the surveyor diploma in 1963. The founder, his father, wished however that his two sons learnt the harsh reality of entrepreneurial work straight away, and so in 1956 Bruno Brusutti found himself working in the most diverse company sectors; as office boy, clerk, ticket collector. He also had to attend evening courses to learn those abilities that would help him become a manager.
In 1966 he undertook military service as an officer in the air force. After his training in the intercontinental airport of Milan Malpensa, he was transferred to the airport of Rimini, where he participated in the exclusive course for military pilots. He took command of the VIII fighter-bomber wing in Cesena and remained in permanent service until 1968.
These were intense years of hard work and study, he passed courses in preparatory meteorology, aeronautical culture and atmospheric physics, becoming an expert and specialist. He also passed professional courses in geophysics and first-level pilot becoming geophysicist and meteorologist. In 1966 he attended the Air Warfare School in Florence, and was there at the tragic moment when the flooding caused by the Arno bursting its banks. He distinguished himself when he joined groups of military forces assisting the devastated population.
But it was at the military airport of Cesena that he immediately showed his managerial qualities and abilities by establishing the UMA (Airport Meteorological Office). He ordered the installation of highly sophisticated instruments which made the office functional and state-of-the-art. However, suddenly Gino and Giulia Brusutti were forced to give up management of the company due to a car accident and the young officer was forced to request discharge with the level of lieutenant.
He started to dedicate himself to the management of the company, which at the time had over 110 employees and 55 buses, a record in those days!
It is one of the oldest transport companies in Italy, and was honoured by the first President of the Republic.
Bruno Brusetti became the mind of the Company and he was immediately appointed Chairman due to his many-sided personality, which led him to involve himself not only in the private sector but also in the problems concerning town planning and transportation in his city. He was assisted by his brother Giancarlo who took the role of technical General Manager. His strong character, perseverance, but above all his great moral principles made him an example to others and led him to initiate a slow re-styling of all the Company’s services. His has a cheerful disposition and a ready irony.
The representation office was expanded, which at the time was located in Via Piave in Mestre. In the office in Venice he created modern computerised ticket offices, he transformed the old warehouses into fully developed offices, state-of-the-art garages and he found premises for the new completely renovated coach park.
And so the company continued to expand in order to deal with the new needs. More important collaborations were started with prestigious foreign companies and excellent results were achieved in international markets due to the cultural exchanges. This meant that the Company became a laboratory for study and work experience, providing training for young operators in the tourism sector, thus developing an intense relationships with the institutions involved.
Numerous entrepreneurs, including those from ex Yugoslavia, have studied his methods and tried to learn his secrets by coming to Venice for brief internships. Testimony of the great attention paid to the relationship between the Company and its territory are the prestigious awards heaped on Bruno Brusutti, from the local police to the Alpine troops, from Lions Club International to prestigious institutions.
In 1970 Bruno Brusutti married Marisa Volpone with whom he has a son, Marco Eugenio, the Company’s hope for continuity.
Bruno Brusutti directly holds innumerable positions including:
Chairman of the ANAC (National Association of Public Coach Services), managing the Veneto region.
Chairman of ENAT (National Body for the Hiring of Coaches for Tourism) for the Veneto Region and member of the National Advisory Committee of ANAC and National Advisory Committee Member of ENAT.
He has held the position of Union Committee member and has been a member of the National Commercial Committee for 25 years and continues to do so.
He is an important member of the transport coordination committee of the Veneto Region, as per Law n° 54/85.
In 1983 he founded AVETT (Veneto Association of Tourist Coach Companies) for small entrepreneurs operating in the field of public and private transport, with the aim of assisting them in all association and administrative activities.
Enrolment is overwhelming there are 4,000 employees from over 300 companies.
Member of the commission of the Ministry for Transport, Provincial Department of Private and Public Transport of Venice; which, based on the Law 488, authorises the issuance of the certificates for “professional ability”.
Bruno Brusutti is currently Chairman of ISVIT for the Veneto Region.
In 2000, he took part in the most exclusive professional training Masters for managers of leading companies in the transport sector, promoted by the persons in charge of ISO 9002 quality systems held by ANCIS, the (Italian) National Quality Certification Association for Service Companies.
(It must be remembered that Brusutti Srl was one of the first to receive the certification).
To the well-known journalist Anita Pensotti, who, during an interview, asked what was his favourite subject of study, he replied “the economy”, and then “modernity and tradition are my motto. Feeling part of a tradition is not at all embarrassing nor contradictory, even though my company is a symbol of modernity and progress”.
Anita Pensotti continues: “he spends his life between planning his work methodically and with perseverance (from 6 in the morning) to the action man who sometimes surprises people by doing the most simplest of services. He has, since he was very young, dedicated himself to his work with passion and he always infuses creative originality and passion, applying his extraordinary ability and thus has become one of the symbols of the twenty-first century, precisely because he is able to seize opportunities to renew himself.
Cardinal Agostino Bea describes him as a “loyal, generous and indefatigable entrepreneur, complete and proficient in every good work, a helmsman who sails through hard fights and fleeting clear skies.
It is possible to reconstruct the economic identity of our times from his company; from when we used to travel in a stagecoach transporting the post, to today, the result of modernity. An opinion poll would define him as one of the most simple people, but also one of the most prominent entrepreneurs in the land of St Mark.”
He has published various and interesting articles in the press, also against the general trend, concerning the sheer technique and the pure substance of doing excellent tourism and not in only appearing to do so.
“One can only say of Bruno Brusutti that his maturity holds, like a golden casket, the precious pearl of authenticity. He is a man with a sincere and loyal handshake”, said Elio Mastroianni, former head clerk of the Court of Venice.
The patriarchs of Venice, Adeodato Giovanni Piazza, Carlo Agostini, Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli, Giovanni Urbani, Albino Lucani and Marco C’è have thought highly of him.
The company has served entire generations: private individuals, schools, institutions, seminaries, public bodies, ministries and more.
The Chairman is always present as a prominent member of the Venice Association of Industrialists.
His contributions to the books “Il viaggio della corriera” (The journey of the coach) and “Un secolo in corriera” (A century of the coach) were much appreciated.
The journalist Feliciana Di Spirito, when interviewing him asked, “you represent the best of Italian entrepreneurial activity in transport, but why have you stayed living in Venice, a city with many problems, why didn’t you move somewhere else where expanding your company would have been easier?.” The answer was “the greatest satisfaction for me has been that of continuing the family tradition, realising something that is useful for my fellow citizens, something that is useful for my city and for others”.
- “You have been a strong man, but you didn’t succumb to the lure of large foreign transport holding companies, which tried to contend for your trade mark and your company”.
He replied “This is, for me, is a source of pride and satisfaction. It is the clear demonstration that one can continually renew by following market developments and changes in technology and still maintain those values of quality tourism that make Italy great in the European scene.” He continues, “I have tried to learn all the secrets of road transport, I have studied and travelled widely, but I have always remained convinced that preserving and searching for new solutions is more stimulating and it adds value to the work of a manager. One needs to know how to invest in research, but above all how to set up collaborations abroad, though still remaining faithful to one’s origins.”
He is often asked to educate young professionals and entrepreneurs. Each year he presents the traditional tourism appointment. His efforts to contain road traffic and protect the territory and the environment have also been important.
Listening to collaborators who have worked with him for nearly 35 years, you often hear that “it is his enthusiasm that involves you, without referring to dates, statistics, bank figures. The company has evolved because of him and we are pleased to be a part of it. He is one of the last pioneers that has never been talked about by the society news. His singular side is his exceptionally human aspect, an example for future generations, and his simplicity.”
Bruno Brusutti’s latest great work has been the new headquarters in Via Triestina. The construction of the new workshops, which have constituted, since 1950, a technological heritage for the sector, as the reported in the newspapers.
The continuation and care in the choice of coaches, in their interiors and their design make them exclusive, he is particularly appreciated for his taste in the choice of colours and graphics for the vehicles’ exterior (it was his the idea for “frescos on the coaches” depicting the city). The large car park which has over 500 spaces, with a close network of other innovative services, is located near Marco Polo Airport.
He also managed to buy shares in SAVE.
Bruno Brusutti concludes, “my current role as manager dealing with tourist transport, must target routes and initiatives, in an ever increasingly professional world. All this is based on quality and society without relinquishing creativity and fantasy, because it is only by developing innovation that we can spark off that virtuous process that will allow Italy’s economy to get on the locomotive of recovery with the appropriate tickets. However, we industrialists cannot forget, when discussing with economists and experts, and above all with historians, about those small and medium enterprises that have made our nation great, recounting journeys, transport, coaches and tourism to posterity. It is certainly an arduous task but we are duty bound to do so for future generations.
On 29 November 2003, the well-known entrepreneur received the highest recognition from the Chancellor of the Constantinian University, Prof. Domenie A. Vavala at the splendid Palazzo Brancaccio in Rome. The academic senate of the University decided to confer him the degree honoris causa in Transport Sciences. It is a tradition of the prestigious University to confer “a limited number of honorary degrees to Italian citizens who have distinguished themselves in entrepreneurial, scientific, artistic and cultural fields, allowing them to work as associate professors, in order to strengthen the cooperation ties between the US and Italy, according to the diplomatic laws in force which regulate relationships of friendship and collaboration between the countries.” Previous receivers of honorary degrees have included Scientists like Prof. Albert Sabin, university Chancellors such as Prof. Giacomo Borruso, ecclesiastics like His Excellency Monsignor Renato Giovanardi and famous sports personalities like the footballer Paolo Rossi.
It must be emphasised that the degree honoris causa has been conferred precisely when the entrepreneur Bruno Brusutti has reached 50 years of activity in the tourism and transport sectors. This underlines his continued entrepreneurial commitment and his moral qualities, of undisputed calibre, that have always distinguished him.