Oliviano Spadotto passed away peacefully on August 28, 2015 at the age of 84, surrounded by the love of his wife Silvana Baracchi, his brother and sister Mario and Laura, his sons Dario and Gianluigi who stood by him in leading the Claber SpA enterprise and who will continue his work, and his numerous grandchildren. Oliviano Spadotto leaves behind the memory of his extraordinary personality, his significant contributions in the social and cultural fields and the enduring example of his values as an enlightened entrepreneur and innovator.
Oliviano Spadotto was born on March 29, 1931 and since his childhood and adolescence, demonstrated a strong propensity for his studies, so much so that his parents, humble bakers from the Torre di Pordenone neighbourhood, made great sacrifices in order to offer him the opportunity to earn a Law Degree. He practiced law full-time in a law firm for a number of years, and the title of “avvocato” (meaning lawyer) accompanied him throughout his lifetime as an affectionate and equally distinctive designation. However, with his young life seemingly heading in a predefined direction, Oliviano Spadotto unexpectedly and intuitively chose a path that would have a decisive impact on his future. During the late 1960s, for reasons related to his profession as a lawyer, he came into contact with a tiny company which, at the time, consisted of only two employees: Claber.
Oliviano Spadotto thus made the decision to become an entrepreneur and took over the leadership of this small enterprise which was nothing more than a small-scale artisan workshop operating in the Borgo Meduna district in Pordenone, between the Meduna and Noncello rivers. Thus began an extraordinary and exemplary story, that of Claber SpA. The company grew and developed year after year, becoming a globally recognised brand in the sector of irrigation products and systems, an established leader in the domestic gardening market, and a key partner in “landscape architecture” projects of international significance.
In 1995, Claber was the first Italian company in the gardening and irrigation sector to be certified UNI ISO 9001, an achievement that Oliviano Spadotto considered not only an important milestone, but also a starting point towards establishing the Claber name at the international level and a stimulus for the continuous improvement of the company’s processes, products, logistical and commercial services, and customer care, with an ongoing commitment and major investments. During that same period, Clabermeteo, a Claber division focused on the centralised irrigation of large green spaces within the public, residential and tourism sectors and of specialised agriculture, was established thanks to his relentless drive and leadership. With this expansion in the scope of technological research, production activities and the market opportunities of his company, Oliviano Spadotto began to explore new frontiers of information technology, of the “wired” and “wireless” technologies for the transmission of data, and of “smart connected” devices (PCs, tablets, smartphones).
In 2003, Oliviano Spadotto established the Claber Water School, a unique institution in terms of the underlying concept, created thanks to the architectural rehabilitation of an old hydroelectric power station restored and transformed into a technical training centre, a meeting point for workshops on the themes of irrigation, water and green spaces, as well as the Research and Development centre for the innovative Claber products.
On April 25, 2001 Oliviano Spadotto also received the San Marco Prize, established in 1972 and awarded to citizens from the Province of Pordenone who have distinguished themselves in a variety of human activity fields (arts, humanities, sciences, industry, sports, social commitment, etc.). This achievement directly contributed to increasing the importance of the Western Friuli region, both nationally and internationally, with its rich and unique cultural, historical, economic and natural heritage, while also serving as an example for new generations.
His life as an enlightened entrepreneur and innovator, as well as an individual strongly committed to cultural and social progress, was always closely linked to water as a precious commodity shared by all of humanity, to be safeguarded with great care and managed wisely.
