MAPEI CEO Giorgio Squinzi recently received the Leonardo Quality Prize for Italy, which recognizes the Italian entrepreneur's commitment to bringing quality Italian products to an international marketplace. Squinzi, based in Milan, received the honor from the 13-year-old Comitato Leonardo, a group of Italian businesspeople, artists and scientists backed by the Italian Institute for Foreign Trade and the Italian trade industry group Confindustria.

The Squinzi family is widely credited for turning MAPEI, initially a small firm founded in 1937, into a multinational tile installation products and associated chemicals company. Giorgi Squinzi headed the company beginning in 1984. He quickly implemented a corporate strategy based on specialization, internationalization and innovation that has helped MAPEI grow to an annual revenue of about $2 billion U.S., according to MAPEI. Additionally, the company operates 46 plants around the world, and employs about 4,500 people, MAPEI notes.