Our approach to the environmental and social dimensions of sustainability is addressed in the appropriate sections of this report. Our management approach to the inter-related economic dimension is largely detailed in our previous Annual Reports. Our primary direct economic impacts, including revenues, operating costs, and payments to capital providers and governments are included in our 2009 SEC filings. Other direct economic impacts, such as through philanthropy, community investment, and volunteering, are highlighted in the Community section.

Our market presence is diverse. The breadth of our product offering and our global scale make us a strategic supplier to the life science industry and provide access to many different segments of the market. Our products and services are primarily used by a diverse, global customer base that includes biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, academic institutions, and research laboratories. We derive most of our revenues from consumable products, which underscores the importance of sustainability in our products and packaging. These attributes allow us to target growth on a number of dimensions and make our business less susceptible to economic downturns, which we experienced in 2009.

Our indirect economic impacts are naturally more diffuse, but nonetheless important, especially in two key areas:

Supporting the development of skills and technical knowledge among future life scientists, both in developed and developing economies. We are doing this by providing financial and career support to students in universities around the world through donations and hands-on learning opportunities in the laboratory. Also, in 2009, we opened our state-of-the-art Biomanufacturing Sciences and Training Center in Singapore, where we now train both employees and customers, helping local researchers and life scientists enhance their knowledge of the biologics processing, regulatory, and related issues.
Providing breakthrough innovation in products and services that allow our customers, including pharmaceutical companies and research institutions, to create health-promoting and life-saving products that are more efficient, effective, and affordable than previously available. In one example, a new product issued in 2009, the Scepter^™ handheld cell counter provides life science researchers with a fast and affordable automated option for counting cells and monitoring the health of cultures. By counting cells ten times faster than hemocytometry, researchers can more quickly get on to the business of research.