It was one century ago, that four companies merged to form what would become one of the leading technology companies of our time: International Business Machines.
“This is tremendously exciting for us here at IBM, it’s 100 years of celebration of our history in Endicott being one of the founding area’s for IBM,” said Kerin Flannery, senior location executive for IBM Endicott.
The company got its start in the Southern Tier village June 16, 1911 and under the leadership of longtime president, Thomas Watson, IBM soon put Endicott on the map.
“We had a tremendous impact from the number of people that we had in the area over the years brought in new technology and capability, brought in many, many new products here,” Flannery explained.
Over the decades, Big Blue, as it’s commonly known, would growing into a global technology leader, developing not only computers, but software that shaped the world, and has played key roles in history as well.
“They’re on the phone saying we gotta call the boys from Endicott and get them to write a computer program cause they’re writing a computer program to save the Apollo program,” said Gerald Smith, Broome County historian.
At its height, IBM employed as many as 18,000 people in Endicott. Today, while only a fraction of that number continue to work there, the legacy of the corporation remains.
“They created a corporate culture that’s still here,” Smith said. “The company may be downsized or gone, but it’s a wonderful history and heritage and it’s one we have to keep pushing, so everyone in our community still realizes the importance that IBM had.”
A sense of pride they hope to continue to build on, as they look ahead to the next hundred years.
IBM helped also shaped the growth of the Southern Tier area, both in industry and education. It was a key sponsor in what would become Broome Community College and Binghamton University.
From YNN
