It is my great pleasure indeed to welcome to GEI Amato L. Berardi who has been elected to the Italian Parliament as representative of the N. A. electoral college.
I have known Amato for many years and more recently I had the pleasure to follow his very intense activity as member of the Italian Chamber of Deputies.
Amato L. Berardi was born in Italy (Longano, Isernia in Molise) and came to the U. S. with his family, at the age of 12.
After a degree in Management & Economy & a successful career as a restaurant owner in Phila, Berardi turned his ambitions to the financial services industry.
In 1983 he founded Berardi & Ass., Inc., a full service insurance, employee benefits and retirement planning agency.
In his successful career Berardi received several honors including the National Quality Award & the Humanitarian Citation from both the State Senate of Pennsylvania and the City of Philadelphia.
In 2000 he was also honored by the European Academy for Economic and Cultural Relations for his distinguished efforts in preserving the Italian culture in America as well for his many successful achievements as an entrepreneur. Berardi was also bestowed with the title of “Cavaliere” by the Republic of Italy and by the Knights of Malta.
In addition Berardi is a member of SMART (Strengthening the Mid-Atlantic Region for Tomorrow) an inter-state non-profit organization which supports research, development & technology;founder and Chairman of the National Italian American Political Action Committee, co-founder of the Italy America Chamber of Commerce of Greater Phila and member of several national, state and local organizations.
On April 10, 2008 Berardi was elected to the Parliament of the Republic of Italy. As member of the Chambers of Deputies Hon. Berardi has been very active in his dual tasks of representing the North America college and in participating in the activities of the Chamber for the PDL.
To do that he runs an extremely tiring and complex schedule that sees him traveling to Italy every Sunday night to return to the US on Friday evening.
Both in Italy, where he has an office at Montecitorio, and in the US, Berardi is involved in a large number of projects to help his constituency and to improve the relations between the two countries.
At the Chamber he is also member of the important Commissione Finanze where he plays a very active role. As part of his legislative activity Berardi has presented, as signer or as cosigner, over hundred law proposals.
It is therefore with great personal pleasure that I present to Amato Berardi the GEI Friendship Award in recognition of his many accomplishments.
The luncheon was held on September 13, 2010 in the Stella Private Room of Le Cirque restaurant in New York City.