After combing the entirety of West Central Florida, the Tampa Bay Business Journal has named Chiara Zaniboni, as their 2017 Businesswoman of the Year in Manufacturing.
In a male denominated industry Chiara, as the CEO Zaniboni Lighting, has taken her company from a start-up, to a multi-million dollar manufacturing company in just over two years. With over 50 employees, she has expanded the company into two newly purchased buildings, one containing 16,000 square feet of office space, and the other containing 12,000 square feet of manufacturing space. Her state-of-the-art manufacturing facility now includes fully equipped, cutting-edge computer controlled machinery, an eco-friendly powder coating system, and an innovative robotized testing facility.
Through her “Work Hard, Play Hard” approach, Chiara focuses on awarding her employees’ goal-making successes with team-building experiences and company outings such as go-carting, deep sea fishing, and amusement parks. Her team-building activities continue with monthly food truck picnics for her employees, family friendly company parties, group workout opportunities and more. This same approach is evident in Zaniboni Lighting’s physical office space and warehouse where she uses bright colors and a large selection of bright and fun art.
Her leadership has established Zaniboni Lighting as an innovator in the lighting industry for developing exquisitely designed functional LED lighting while also maintaining a reputation for unparalleled customer service owing to their flexibility in meeting specific needs for custom projects.
Her passion is obvious in her hands-on approach and her constant efforts to push herself and others to do better. She leads by example and knows all facets of her company, and can thus assume almost any role if needed. She is everywhere in the company and rarely at her desk. It is commonplace to see her jump in if short-handed, brainstorming with her sales team, going over goals with engineering, or even jumping in to help package completed orders.
By adding her to this prestigious group of woman, who have demonstrably broken through barriers and pushed the boundaries to excel in their prospective fields to become true leaders, this achievement acknowledges Chiara as the hard working, determined and successful woman that she is.
