Be part of Steelcase’s worldwide centennial celebration. Our yearlong anniversary project, “100 Dreams, 100 Minds, 100 Years,” is a springboard to the century ahead. Read, view, engage, comment, share.
On this date 100 years ago, The Metal Office Furniture Co. was incorporated. Today, that company – now known as Steelcase – brought together 1,400 of its employees to celebrate this milestone in Grand Rapids, Michigan. CEO Jim Hackett addressed the crowd and revealed an artistic installation of the anniversary symbol, which will hang from the ceiling of the headquarter lobby for the next year. Before the unveiling, Jim Hackett offered a few words:
“I’ve just returned last night from a week of celebration with many of our employees in the Asian sales organization, our Global Business Center and our factory in Malaysia. We are truly integrated around the world so while the flight was very long, the hospitality was pure Steelcase. Do you think the founders in 1912 could have imagined that the president of the company could even travel those distances at that speed? Hardly. In fact they wouldn’t recognize the company we’ve become. But they would see the same enduring values. This is a story of evolving our business on an arc of significance. In other words, WHAT we would do over those years might be different… but WHO we are would ride that constant arc.”
The inspiration for the Steelcase anniversary graphic was a human eye — where the promise of people shines most clearly. The symbol reminds us of the great diversity of our world, with different elements coming together in harmony. It implies a work in progress, a century of ideas coming together with many open areas where new possibilities can come into play.
To celebrate this special day, Steelcase invites you to look forward to the future. You are encouraged to take time to dream about what can be. You can share those thoughts with our community on this site or through our Share Your Dream app on Facebook.