01.05.2026

Silvano Bencini 1937-2026

We have received the sad news that Silvano Bencini, the president and co-founder of aerial lift and equipment manufacturers Imer, has died.
He passed away on Thursday, April 9th, at the age of 88.

In 1962, at the age of 25, Bencini and his co-founder set up Bencini & Salvadori in the town of Poggibonsi north of Siena, to manufacture concrete mixers and small equipment. At the same time, another company was established in Certaldo, further north towards Florence, for the same purpose.

In 1973, the founders of the two companies agreed to merge the two businesses and coined the Imer name, standing for Industrie Macchine Edili Riunite. In the 1980s, they began expanding internationally, with Bencini the driving force behind the strategy. They began in France in 1981, adding Spain the following year, and making the brave move into the USA in 1990. In 1999, they acquired batching plant manufacturer Le Officine Riunite – Udine, and in 2006 began producing truck mounted concrete mixers in Turkey.

The big move, as far as we are concerned, came in 2009 when Imer entered the aerial lift market with the launch of a spider lift, followed by the acquisition of Iteco, which was based in Pegognaga- south of Mantua. At the end of 2010, Iteco was rebranded as Imer and a new Imer Access division was formed. It has been growing at a steady pace ever since.

Bencini had a real passion for the business and its growth on a global basis, he remained dedicated to that dream until the end of his life. In 2017 he received a GIS Lifetime Achievement Award and also collected a number of regional business awards along the way. On top of all this served as a city councillor from 1999 to 2004.
Mayor Susanna Cenni said: "He was an enlightened entrepreneur who gave so much to our region and the entire community, to which he was always deeply connected."

The company added: “Today, a light that illuminated the lives of so many has gone out. He was the man who always dreamed and pursued, especially professionally, ambitious goals, goals we wanted to achieve together. Throughout his long life, he never stopped dedicating himself to his company and the people who were part of it, with a passion and foresight that are hard to match.”

“He has always been and will remain the soul of the company, and at the same time, one of us. The man who, beyond his role, always had a helping hand to everyone, who made personal relationships his life’s mission, who knew how to establish genuine relationships with people, without linguistic or cultural barriers.”