The year was 1996:

• One of the worst blizzards in American history hits the Eastern states, killing more than 100 people.
• General Motors EV1, the first electric car to go into mass production, is launched.
• Dolly the Sheep, the first cloned mammal, is born.

Meanwhile . . .

It took 137 years – from 1859 to 1996 – for us to reach our first $1 billion in sales. It was a time of celebration and special supplements in the local press. This year we should top the $3 billion mark.

Ample mention was given in news columns in 1996 to Diebold, the company whose products had survived The Great Chicago Fire, protected the Hope Diamond and pioneered in the development of the automated teller machine.

But the real achievement was deeper than all that. Diebold’s real accomplishment was that we never tired, never stopped improving, and never stopped growing despite whatever setbacks we sustained along the way.

The billion-dollar sales milestone was one we deserved the right to commemorate. After all, our achievements made an impact on millions of people across many generations and a noticeable contribution to people’s lives around the world.

By 1996, many efforts were undertaken to advance sales and revenue growth. Among those cited were: direct marketing to international customers; increasing over-the-phone sales; and, the introduction of Diebold technology, particularly electronic security systems, into emerging markets.

Underpinning those efforts were company strategies to improve products and services, modernize our manufacturing facilities and diversify into new markets.

We launched many new electronic systems capable of doing everything from serving educational institutions and others with single-i.d.-card-based networks to the Integrated Campus Access Management (ICAM) system, which provided medical facilities with automated inventory control systems (MedSelect-Rx). Additionally, we made automated utility bill-paying machines for utility companies, remote teller machines for banks and stored value cards (smart cards) as part of the VISA Cash program where food, souvenirs, phone service and mass transit purchases could be made without cash.

Practical solutions to customer needs have been the touchstone of the company since its founding. Today, we speak of another ingredient to customer satisfaction, as well. Innovation. That is, we not only seek out solutions to benefit our customers, we will not hesitate to explore inviting new territory, examine novel approaches and return to the challenge as often as needed to find the best solution possible for our customers.

That’s really what we were celebrating in 1996, and what we so proudly promote today. Innovation. Not for its own sake, but for that of our customers.