Businesswoman Marta Codoñer has been elected President of ITENE, the first woman to hold this position in a technological institute of the Valencian Community

• The Managing Director of Aglolak has been elected in a Board of Directors meeting held this 8th March and will succeed the entrepreneur Pedro Ballester, Managing Director of Logifruit Iberia S.L.U., who had been the President for the last eight years, the maximum period allowed.
• The General Director of the Valencian Institute for Business Competitiveness (IVACE), Julia Company, has expressed her satisfaction with the appointment of Marta Codoñer as the first female president of a research centre and has defended the presence of more women in positions of responsibility.

The businesswoman Marta Codoñer, Managing Director of Aglolak, has been unanimously elected as the first President of ITENE, a position she will hold for at least the next four years, in a Board of Directors meeting held at the research centre this Wednesday, 8th March, and she also becomes the first woman to hold this position in a technological institute of the Valencian Region.

Graduated in Business Sciences, Marta Codoñer, who has been one of the members of ITENE’s Board of Directors since 2021, will succeed the businessman Pedro Ballester, General Manager of Logifruit Iberia S.L.U., who has been the head of ITENE’s Presidency for the last eight years, the maximum period allowed.

In her appointment, Marta Codoñer highlighted that Aglolak has been involved in ITENE since its constitution as an institute. “It is an honour to be able to continue with the collaboration that my father, Roberto Codoñer, started and that I continue in ITENE”, she said. The businesswoman also stressed that “it is important that women have access to these representative positions”. Her appointment, this 8th March, coincided with the Women’s Day celebrations.

Codoñer is currently the Managing Director of Aglolak, a company dedicated to the production and commercialisation of wooden pallets located in Silla (Valencia). She is also a member of the Governing Council of the Packaging Cluster of the Valencia Region and serves as Vice President of Faproma (Spanish Association of Manufacturers of Pallets and Wooden Products for Handling). The Faproma association is the Spanish representative of FEFPEB (European Federation of Wooden Pallet and Packaging Manufacturers) and is also a member of FEIM (Spanish Federation of Wood Industry).

During her election, the General Director of the Instituto Valenciano de Competitividad Empresarial (IVACE), Julia Company, who is also a member of ITENE’s Board of Directors, has been present and has shown her satisfaction with the appointment of Marta Codoñer as the first president of a research centre, while she has defended the presence of more women in positions of responsibility.

Renewal of the Vice-Presidencies and odd-numbered memberships

The Board of Directors, in which Marta Codoñer has been elected as President, has also renewed the second, third and fourth Vice-Presidencies, which will be occupied by Gracia Burdeos, from The SPB Global Corporation; Carlos Virosque, from Virosque Transporte & Logística; and Francisco Vidal, from Heineken España, respectively.

Likewise, the 10 representatives of companies that were elected among the 17 candidacies presented to the elections for the odd-numbered memberships of ITENE’s Board of Directors, whose results were communicated this 28th February in an Extraordinary General Assembly online, have accepted their positions.

Specifically, these have been Rafael Castilla, from Aguas de Solán de Cabras (Mahou – San Miguel Group); José Adolfo Balaguer, from Anecoop S. Coop; Fernando Arrufat, from DS Smith Tecnicarton; María Rodríguez, from Emsur Saymopack (Lantero Group); Francisco Vidal, from Heineken España; Mireia García, from Grupo Hinojosa; Jose Luis Olmedo, from ITC Packaging; Nuria Luna, from Pinturas Blatem; Jorge Gresa, from SP Berner Plastic Group; and Carlos Virosque, from Virosque Transporte & Logística.

The new members join the company representatives who have held the even-numbered seats since 2021: Jaime Agramunt, from ADE Logística; Juan Ignacio Piquer, from AFCO; Marta Codoñer, from Aglolak; Joaquín Rodrigo, from CarVolum; Ricardo Marí, from Consum Cooperativa Valenciana; María Cardona, from Embutidos Martínez; Elena Pons, from Importaco; Amaya Fernández, from Irisem; Pedro Ballester, from Logifruit; Blanca Erum, from Plásticos Erum; and Gracia Burdeos, from The SPB Global Corporation.

Together with them, ITENE’s Board of Directors is completed of four representatives of the Generalitat Valenciana: the General Director of Industry, Silvia Cerdá -who holds the First Vice-presidency-; the General Director of the Instituto Valenciano de Competitividad Empresarial (IVACE), Júlia Company; the General Director of Innovation, Sonia Tirado, and the General Director of Public Works, Transport and Sustainable Mobility, Roser Obrer.

Crecimiento de ITENE

This renewal of the Presidency and the Board of Directors coincides with a moment of expansion for ITENE. In 2022, the research centre increased by 11% the volume of its revenues, exceeding 12 million euros, and recorded a further increase in its workforce to 188 professionals. Specifically, its revenues from economic activity increased by 5% to 4.5 million euros, while those from non-economic activity rose to 7.6 million euros, an increase of 15%.

In the same year, ITENE carried out 111 R&D projects of economic and non-economic activity, 326 technological assistance and innovation projects and nearly 700 testing services.

In addition, in 2022, the construction of a new building for industrial pre-scaling projects started, which is funded by the IVACE (Valencian Institute for Business Competitiveness) and is expected to be inaugurated by the end of 2023.