They export more, invest more in the double transition digital and green and are more attentive to the well -being of the territories and human capital. And the identikit of companies that have a strong relationship (members or customers) with cooperative credit banks and rural coffers (BCC) from which they draw support to support their investments on ESG which also translate into better competitiveness. This is what emerges from an investigation promoted by Federcasse, the Italian Federation of Cooperative Credit Banks and Rural Cases, and created by the Study Center of the Chambers of Commerce “Guglielmo Tagliarne” on a sample of 3,100 manufacturing companies and small services (between 5 and 49 employees).
Internationalization and quality
28% of the turnover of these companies is made abroad (against 24% of other entrepreneurial realities that do not have a BCC as a banking partner); 23% have invested or will invest in Double transition (ecological and digital) in the three-year period 2023-2025 (against 13%); 29% focuses on the training of their staff to improve the initiative’s ability (against 18% of other companies); 30% aim for Product qualityto the links with the territory and the enhancement of the Made in Italy brand To differentiate and increase customers and sales (against 24% of other companies). Also for this reason the companies served by the BCCs show 12% more likely than other companies to be able to achieve turnover growth.
Upper ESG performance
According to the study, the BCC Customer Companies have one Total performance ESG higher than 27% Compared to other companies, with peaks of 33% in the South and 52% in the social (S). These companies are also more Professor to invest in Green To improve the process/product, 29% has already done so in 2020-2022 (against 23% of the other company realities) and 42% will do so by 2025 (against 31%). While, 36% already have invested in technologies 4.0 In 2020-2022 (against 26%) and 37%intend to do so within this year (against 25%).
The relationship with the territory
But there is also an effect on the greater ability of these companies to be coexive, or make “network” With other companies and with the subjects active in the area: 28% declare that the banking system that affects cooperative credit facilitates/strengthens the relationships of their company with other stakeholders, double the other companies (14%). And to this “Coesive push” of the BCC it seems to be ascribable almost half of the overtaking of economic performance of the companies of their customers on the others: 34% in fact recorded an increase in 2024 of turnover (against 26%) and 18% employed (against 13%).
