Community Involvement

From volunteerism and contributions by employees and retirees to cash donations, product donations and active community partnerships‚ 3M Community Affairs works to strengthen education and enhance the quality of life in 3M communities. Together with the gifts of time and skill from thousands of employee and retiree volunteers‚ 3M reaches out to address some of the overwhelming concerns of the day involving education‚ youth‚ family and community issues. Of particular interest are science and math education and youth development. Each year‚ we invest more than $30 million in 3M communities throughout the United States.

In Austin‚ 3M has been recognized for the quality of its United Way campaigns and for giving more than $500‚000 each year to United Way Capital Area. Employee committees make decisions on where to contribute 3M Foundation dollars‚ benefiting education‚ arts and culture‚ community and civic‚ and human services efforts. Through Ingenuity Grants‚ area elementary and middle school teachers receive grants for units they develop on math‚ science or economics. Austin Center and Austin Plant each partner with an elementary school‚ where employees mentor‚ teach Junior Achievement and distribute books for Reading is Fundamental.

Austin Guidelines