The factory was opened in the early 1980s by Luis Zanon, when Argentina was ruled by a dictatorship. According to Alejandro López, a representative of the workers' union, Zanon's factory was built on public land using public funding from the national and provincial governments, which were never repaid. In the inaugural parade, Luigi Zanon congratulated the military government for "keeping Argentina safe for investments", in a reference to the Dirty War (the illegal repression of political dissidents). During the 1990s, Zanon grew because of loans from the national and provincial governments; Luigi Zanon was a good friend of both former president Carlos Menem and former governor of Neuquén, Jorge Sobisch.