Chapter 34
-- Compiled by the Cumberland Women's Club
and Published by the Cumberland Advocate
1874-1974
(used by permission of the Cumberland Advocate)
Donated by Linda Mott
Please
Note: This page is information intense! Please be patient
while some portions are
loading -- it will be worth
your wait! Thank you.
3M Company
3M's coated abrasives are sold worldwide as production cutting tools throughout industry for grinding, finishing and polishing all types of metal, wood, glass, plastic, ceramics, rubber and leather. They are used in automotive plants and in the auto after-market.
As a product line, coated abrasives runs from the beginning in 1902 throughout 3M history. And there is a similar strong connection between Cumberland and 3M.
The Cumberland project was a part of the company's post-World War II expansion. Community leaders, together with members of the city government, recognized the need for industrial development.
Operating through the Civic Club, all leads on potential new industries were tracked down. This led to negotiations with 3M Company.
In what certainly turned out to be a mutually-advantageous project, Cumberland citizens floated a $370,000 bond to finance construction of a municipally-owned building. And 3M agreed to locate the abrasives plant in that building.
So in May of 1950--with 15 people--3M began operating in Cumberland. In that group of 15 were Lou Bohn, plant manager, and Les Mathwig, office manager. These two, along with 59 others hired the first year, are still with 3M in Cumberland.
The first plant addition came in 1953, and in 1961 a major addition of about 39,000 square feet was finished. This brought the plant to its present size--117,000 square feet. In March of 1960 the company purchased the building and grounds from the city.
Within
the 3M organization, Cumberland is part of the Industrial Abrasives division.
This division, in turn, comes under a group which includes five other divisions.
The company is comprised of eight product groups and an International group
to handle its 45 major product lines. Each group has one or more divisions,
subsidiaries or departments, depending upon the
products
manufactured and markets served.
There are many ways to measure the contribution of a manufacturing facility such as 3M has on the community. There's a payroll of more than $3 million annually; purchase of goods and services from other businesses in the area; and the support of the school district and other governmental units through taxes.
But the
human conditions are just as important. 3Mers give freely of their time
and talent to the organizations and projects which are a vital part of
any community which prides itself on being a good place to work and play.
Thanks for stopping by!
[an error occurred while processing this directive]
to