Imola (Iômla in the local dialect) is a town and comune in the province of Bologna, located on the Santerno River, in the Emilia-Romagna region of north-central Italy. The town is traditionally considered the western entrance to the historical region Romagna. The Sacmi group of companies were founded here in 1919. John Restakis considers it "to be one of the towns most venerated institutions".:65