Twenty years to the day since the company was spun off from IBM, Lexmark International invited its employees and retirees to celebrate at the Lexington headquarters Sunday.
And in recognition of its anniversary, the company announced that its 13,200 employees worldwide have committed to 20 years' worth of volunteer service — more than 175,000 hours — in 2011.
One of those excited about the challenge is Harold Gonzalez, a hardware engineer for the past 14 years. He volunteers with Junior Achievement at Bryan Station High School, as well as with Habitat for Humanity.
"It was Lexmark that drove me into volunteering," he said.
While inflatables and cake offered the feel of a party Sunday, many chose to spend time reminiscing in a room filled with the company's milestone printers.
Some of the rarest were behind glass, including the first ever IBM LaserPrinter, which was given to then-project manager and future Lexmark CEO Paul Curlander. The assemblers painted it red in honor of the Cincinnati Reds because of Curlander's love of sports.
"Half this stuff we did, we didn't know how to do it when we started," said retiree David Goodnight, who was vice president of Asia and Latin America for the company.
Goodnight served on the team that led Lexmark's initial public offering of stock in 1995. On Sunday, he recalled how the company wasn't sure what ticker symbol it would be assigned until the day shares began to trade. While "LXK" was ultimately chosen, three or four others were discussed including "LMK," he said.
Tom Schmidt, the company's vice president of inkjet-supplies operations, perused the printers and reflected on how there was a possibility he wouldn't even have been working for Lexmark. Around the time of the spin-off, he was returning from an assignment with IBM and was given the option of coming to Lexington or going to other cities, where he would have likely stayed an IBM employee.
He chose Lexington to be near his family.
"I didn't know what was going to happen, but I hoped for the best," he said. "It's been a great 20 years."
