Honeywell - Community commitment

Good neighbor, good citizen, good employer. That's really how most people have come to know us.

Since we do nearly all of our business outside of Arizona, most people really don't know too much about us. But we recognize that the interests of our business and the community go hand-in-hand. And just as we are the leaders in our businesses, we have a commitment to lead in the strengthening and enhancing of the quality of life and vitality of the communities where we live and work.

So while you may not be aware that the Valley is home to two of Honeywell's three businesses - Space and Aviation Control and Industrial Control - with some 7,000 employees and five major facilities in Phoenix and Glendale, you probably know our track record for giving to the community.

We annually contribute more than $2 million dollars to nonprofit organizations, but just as meaningful are the thousands of hours of volunteer work our employees contribute each year. Last year we created Honeywell Volunteers of Arizona, an organization operated by our retirees to better handle the many requests we get for help.

So, while Honeywell's contributions significantly affect the bottom line of many Valley nonprofit organizations, perhaps our most powerful resources are gifts of the time and talent of our employees, active and retired. Honeywell is represented on a number of boards where our expertise in administration, finance, legal, communications and marketing can be useful. But you will also see our employees stuffing envelopes or food baskets. I'm personally involved in the community and I ask my staff to do so as well.

Our employees also give generously from their paychecks. The employee fund-raising organizations representing Honeywell's two businesses - HERO and GO Club - collected $675,000 in their campaigns last fall.

You will recognize Honeywell employees by their bright red T-shirts. You may seem them on a charity walk for Juvenile Diabetes or the March of Dimes, or on a neighborhood-cleaning project.

We are continuously searching for new ways to make a difference in the area of community support. To this end we seek out other companies with whom to collaborate on special projects. We often encourage small businesses to make a contribution by offering to match their gifts. This way they, too, can leverage their small gift.

The biggest share of our contributions go to education, where there's no question as to the value of our investment. The success of children is dependent upon the tools we give them to grow emotionally, intellectually, physically and socially. In turn, the future success of our communities depends on providing quality educational and developmental opportunities for today's youth.

Honeywell is dedicated to developing innovative community solutions for educational challenges, specifically targeting programs that assist children up to age 18. We continue to fund early childhood programs like the Children's Action Alliance's Success by Six program. We helped establish one of the first such programs in the country here 10 years ago and have had a hand in contributing to its success ever since.

Other innovative education programs supported by Honeywell this year are Kids and the Power of Work (KAPOW), Communities in Schools, MESA: Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement, and Jobs for Arizona's Graduates.

We provide 10 scholarships to each of our four state universities and provide six Maricopa Community College scholarships to graduates of the Communities in Schools innovative Christown Academy. In addition, we provide scholarships to Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Prescott, an institution very important to us.

Because teachers contribute so much to the success of our children, we support teacher efforts too, like the mini-grant program of Teacher Venture Arizona.

Our biggest project in education this year was the sponsorship of the Jason Project at the Arizona Science Center where we provided $238,000 for equipment and support to enable the Center to bring the experience of being on an expedition to more than 3,000 students in grades four through eight via live interactive broadcasts from the Amazon and other locations.

Contributions to the broad category of community support are a long-standing Honeywell tradition. In providing support in areas like housing, crime and child-abuse prevention and economic security we help address the many critical issues our communities are facing.

In addition to Honeywell's corporate commitment to provide thermostats for Habitat for Humanity projects nationwide, we have sponsored the construction of a home in the South Ranch community each of the last three years. This year plans are underway for a blitz-build of at least three homes. In addition to our financial support, thousands of hours of Honeywell volunteer time has gone into the Habitat for Humanity project.

To help determine the needs of the community, we have contributed to the Quality of Life Indicator Project of the Morrison Institute for Public Policy.

The Honeywell Foundation has earmarked $384,000 for the United Way this year.

Honeywell takes a great deal of pride in all that it does for Valley education, community service and arts organizations.

Call us good neighbor, good citizen or good employer and watch us smile.