Harris Community Relations at a Glance
The people of Harris are fully engaged in their communities and genuinely care about being trusted neighbors. This commitment to social responsibility reflects our understanding that Harris and its employees will best prosper in communities that are vibrant and growing.
Harris donated more than $4.3 million to community initiatives in fiscal year 2009.
More than half of the donations were allocated to educational programs, with emphasis in the areas of math and science.
More than half of the donations were allocated to educational programs, with emphasis in the areas of math and science.
In 2009, employees volunteered more than 54,250 hours in community initiatives.
The Harris Volunteer Involvement Program (VIP) has been designated specifically to promote community involvement, to recognize the ongoing volunteer efforts of Harris employees, and to act as a clearinghouse to match the skills, preferences and availability of our volunteers with the needs of eligible community organizations.
Harris strongly encourages our employees to participate in leadership roles for community organizations. Our community relations department works to pair employees with organizations that are requesting Harris representation, but also with organizations for whose cause the employee has a passion.
The Harris Employees Reaching Out (HERO) program strives to meet the needs of both public and private schools in Brevard County, Florida, by donating Harris surplus furniture and supplies, as well as communicating schools' mentoring and tutoring needs to employees.
The Harris Volunteer Involvement Program (VIP) has been designated specifically to promote community involvement, to recognize the ongoing volunteer efforts of Harris employees, and to act as a clearinghouse to match the skills, preferences and availability of our volunteers with the needs of eligible community organizations.
Harris strongly encourages our employees to participate in leadership roles for community organizations. Our community relations department works to pair employees with organizations that are requesting Harris representation, but also with organizations for whose cause the employee has a passion.
The Harris Employees Reaching Out (HERO) program strives to meet the needs of both public and private schools in Brevard County, Florida, by donating Harris surplus furniture and supplies, as well as communicating schools' mentoring and tutoring needs to employees.
Support for quality education is among Harris's highest contribution priorities.
Our K-12 outreach focuses on initiatives that promote the areas of math and science to students. For example, Harris is a founding sponsor of the Bayside Engineering and Technology Academy (BETA), where Brevard County students have an opportunity to pursue academic studies that specifically prepare them for professional careers in engineering or for work in technical/assembly environments.
Our university outreach program emphasizes those schools that have been identified as key recruiting universities. Several of them have named facilities in honor of Harris' financial commitment:
Florida Institute of Technology's Harris Center for Science and Engineering
University of Central Florida's Harris Corporation Engineering Center
Rochester Institute of Technology's Harris Laboratory
Georgia Tech's Harris Nanotechnology Lab
University of Florida's Harris Corporation Rotunda and Lecture Hall
Harris also supports several professional student societies and student competitions such as:
Society of Women Engineers
National Society of Black Engineers
Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
FIRST Robotics Competition
AIA Team America Rocketry Challenge
DARPA Grand Challenge
Our K-12 outreach focuses on initiatives that promote the areas of math and science to students. For example, Harris is a founding sponsor of the Bayside Engineering and Technology Academy (BETA), where Brevard County students have an opportunity to pursue academic studies that specifically prepare them for professional careers in engineering or for work in technical/assembly environments.
Our university outreach program emphasizes those schools that have been identified as key recruiting universities. Several of them have named facilities in honor of Harris' financial commitment:
Florida Institute of Technology's Harris Center for Science and Engineering
University of Central Florida's Harris Corporation Engineering Center
Rochester Institute of Technology's Harris Laboratory
Georgia Tech's Harris Nanotechnology Lab
University of Florida's Harris Corporation Rotunda and Lecture Hall
Harris also supports several professional student societies and student competitions such as:
Society of Women Engineers
National Society of Black Engineers
Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers
Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers
FIRST Robotics Competition
AIA Team America Rocketry Challenge
DARPA Grand Challenge
Harris and our employees donated a record $1.2 million in 2009 to United Way in the communities in which we do business. In 2006, Harris was honored with the Chairman's Award from the United Way of Brevard — the highest honor given to a company or organization for outstanding leadership, generosity, and dedication to improving our community.