Contributing to the Community Well-Being

Corporate and community sustainability are interwoven. H.F. Johnson, Sr. understood this. His "inside/out" theory, which states: "you can’t have a healthy environment inside a company unless you have a healthy environment outside in the community," has set the stage for SC Johnson’s community involvement for nearly a century. Indicators of our performance in this regard include:

In 1914, SC Johnson established its first international subsidiary in Britain, followed by Australia in 1917 and Canada in 1920. From 1957 to 1971, we added 30 more subsidiaries. Today, we have operations in 65 countries worldwide. Underscoring our commitment to invest in developing economies in the 90s, we’ve opened facilities in Pakistan, Vietnam, China, Uruguay, Serbia, Slovakia, Russia, Croatia and Romania. Wherever we’ve opened our doors around the world, we’ve opened a dialogue and begun a partnership with our host communities.

In 1963, H.F. Johnson, Jr. founded a primary school for the children of Fortaleza, Brazil. SC Johnson has provided ongoing support to the school, which today has more than 1,200 students enrolled. In the 1980s, SC Johnson chose to keep its operation in South Africa open despite international pressure to get out. We provided a safe workplace for our employees and worked along side them to fight apartheid from within. Many of our subsidiaries in the Asia-Pacific region have assisted local community governments in their continuing battles with the spread of insect-borne diseases. We’ve come to our neighbors’ aid in times of natural disaster, both catastrophic and habitual. In 1996, our subsidiary in Thailand helped residents in the poverty-stricken village of Rai Kok reverse the effects of a devastating four-year drought that had left their fields barren. In 1998, we helped launch the Sustainable Racine Initiative in our world headquarters community. The "Business Ethics Award" recognized our leadership in promoting community sustainability. In 1999, SC Johnson received the Masterworks Corporate Award for innovative and enduring philanthropic achievement, and consistent, creative and effective community involvement.

For additional information, visit the 2007 SC Johnson Public Report.