3M’s Plant Gets New Sign for New Name

With the wave of a magic wand, the old will be out and the new will be in.

The old in this case is 3M--best known for its Scotch tape and Post-it Notes.

The new is Imation Corp., a $2.3-billion technology company that will specialize in computer backup tapes and digital imaging.

Next week, 3M is spinning off much of its high-tech work into a new firm. And at a lunchtime ceremony today for the more than 650 employees of 3M’s Camarillo plant, officials are expected to unveil the new company’s new sign--with a nifty wand for a logo.

“It’s a big day for us,” plant manager Chuck Byrne said. “We are looking to this as a new beginning.”

The new corporation’s name is derived from the words imagination and innovation, Byrne said.

Officially, Imation will be launched as in independent company Monday.

The plant’s operations will continue unchanged and the employment levels will remain about the same, Byrne said.

Worldwide, Imation will have 17 manufacturing, research and distribution facilities with about 10,000 employees and more than 10,000 products.

With more than three decades in Camarillo, the plant is a leading producer of personal computer data backup tapes and the inventor of the Travan computer backup cartridge.

As of Monday, 3M stockholders will receive shares in Imation, which will be traded on the New York and Chicago stock exchanges.

Today’s ceremony will also mark a transition for several of the plant’s workers. The new sign will be unveiled by a group of retiring employees, including Jim Heisler, who has been at 3M for 41 years.