In 1913, Thomas J. Watson left his position as vice president at the National Cash Register Co. of Dayton, Ohio, and then joined Computing-Tabulating-Recording Co., a smaller company which had been formed in 1911 through the merger of three companies, one of which dated to the 1880s. The new company had 1,300 employees and offices and plants in Endicott and Binghamton, New York; Dayton, Ohio; Detroit, Michigan; Washington, D.C.; and Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It sold a variety of business products including scales, employee time clocks, meat slicers, coffee grinders, and punched-card equipment. An exceptional salesman and organizer, Watson was named president of the company in 1915. 

Drawing upon his managerial experience at NCR, Watson quickly implemented a series of effective business tactics: generous sales incentives, a focus on customer service, an insistence on well-groomed, dark-suited salesmen, and an evangelical fervor for instilling company pride and loyalty in every worker. 

In 1924, the organization changed its name to International Business Machines Corp., and before Watson’s death in 1956, IBM became the leading company in the manufacturing of computers worldwide. The company had expanded to 60,000 employees at 200 offices and plants by the mid-1950s.

Watson also made an indelible mark on the Broome County community with his personal generosity. As a tribute to him, the Thomas J. Watson Society was established to recognize giving by the private and public sectors of the Broome County business community to support the health and human services funded by the United Way of Broome County. All business organizations contributing $10,000 or more in combined corporate and employee campaign gifts in a single year are eligible for membership.

There are four levels of recognition in the Thomas J. Watson Society: 

The Platinum Award recognizes combined corporate and employee giving of $100,000 and above.
The Gold Award recognizes combined corporate and employee giving from $50,000 to $99,999. 
The Silver Award recognizes combined corporate and employee giving from $25,000 to $49,999. 
The Bronze Award honors combined corporate and employee giving from $10,000 to $24,999.

Platinum
BAE Systems
IBM Corp.
Conrad and Virginia Klee Foundation
Lockheed Martin 
UHS

Gold 
Dr. G. Clifford and Florence B. Decker Foundation 
Endicott Interconnect Technologies
M&T Bank 
Security Mutual Life Insurance Co. of New York
Visions Federal Credit Union 
Wegmans 

Silver
Broome County Government employees
Broome-Tioga BOCES employees
Columbian Financial Group 
Emerson Network Power 
Miller S. and Adelaide S. Gaffney Foundation 
Helen T. Howland Foundation
Levene Gouldin & Thompson, L.L.P. 
Lourdes Hospital (LECCO) 
Maines Paper & Food Service
New York State Electric & Gas (NYSEG)