Turano Baking chief will try to recapture Italian Senate seat

BERWYN — Renato Turano has been putting his family's name on the line in countless restaurants and kitchen tables throughout the country every time a meal is served. Now he's asking Italian citizens living in North and Central America to put his name on the line again — this time on a ballot.

Turano, chairman of the Board of Turano Baking Company in Berwyn, is running for a seat in the Italian Senate.

The Burr Ridge resident has dual-citizenship and is eligible to run for office. But this isn't just an honorary title if elected.

"Not only do we represent our area, we're also full-fledged senators voting on every piece of legislation coming to the Senate," Turano said.

He's served on the Italian Senate before, having been elected in 2006 under the Italian General Labour Party, Unione. Turano  spent two years under Prime Minister Romano Prodi's administration.

It was the first Italian election where Italian citizens living overseas were allowed to vote for their own representatives. Turano's constituents were in North America and Central America.

He ran again in 2008 but was defeated.

Turano, who was born in Calabria, Italy, said his motivation goes far beyond just being part of a governing body.

"We want to keep an identity with the Italian language, the culture, the betterment of the Italian consulates," the 70-year-old candidate said. "As citizens of Italy, we have a responsibility to the next generation to keep the customs, the knowledge of the Italian language so they can keep the ties with the people in Italy. It's important those ties are maintained."

As in all political races, there are voters out there who need to be reached. To that end,
Turano is busy these days campaigning across the U.S. and Canada.

Chairman of one of the biggest artisan bread companies in the U.S., candidate for the Italian Senate, Turano is a textbook case of a young man coming to America and living the dream.

At age 15, Turano emigrated from Italy to the U.S. with his family in 1958. His father was a coffee salesman in Italy.

"When he came over here my father, Mariano, had a brother in Chicago," Turano said. "He came to see him and at the time, not knowing the English language, he went to work in construction. After working through a winter, he decided to go back to Italy, but after four months, he knew his life had changed. He had a better future for his children in the U.S."

The Turano family returned in 1962 and started a bakery business, delivering bread door-to-door. The rest is history.

"We stayed within our niche, the artisan Italian breads, and that was how we grew it," Turano said.

Today, Turano bread can be found in all 50 states.

Turano Baking Company is a family affair, with Renato and his brothers, Umberto and Giancarlo, and a third generation of the Turano family keeping the ovens burning.

Turano's daughter, Lisa Turano, serves as vice president-legal, and has been with the company "since the first truck license plate was LISA."

"I basically grew up in the business but technically it's been since 1981," she said.
She remembers back when her father's political duties took him overseas for long lengths of time.

"It was unusual, but my dad is incredibly driven," she said. "This was something he was really proud to do. ... He tells the story of how the first time he walked into the Senate chamber in Rome and they announced his name. Words of his father echoed in his ears and made him cry."

If elected, Turano will return to the globe-trotting schedule he maintained during his previous Senate term.

"I was in Italy every week the Senate was in session," he said. "They meet three days a week, every week, then they have breaks of one and two weeks." They also break for summer and the Christmas holiday, he added.

He would stay at his parents' home in Cozenza, Calabria, located at the southern tip of the boot-shaped country. Turano also would maintain an apartment in Rome for the days when Senate is in session.

"I do what I have to because I'm committed to being as good as any participating senator when I'm there," he said. "At the same time, I try to stay in touch with my constituents."

The Italian elections
Italian citizens living abroad will be sent ballots this week and have until Feb. 21 to mail in their votes. The Italian General Elections take place Feb. 24 and 25. They will be voting for 630 members of the Chamber of Deputies and 315 members of the Senate. There are 19 parties represented in the elections.