Nordson Corporation (Nasdaq:NDSN) and the Nordson Corporation Foundation today announced that they have contributed a combined $8.3 million to charity during the fiscal year ended October 31, 2015. Nordson’s giving is focused on nonprofit organizations in the U.S. where the company has major operations, including Ohio, Colorado, Georgia, California, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Virginia, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania. Additionally, Nordson’s giving has expanded to selected international locations, including Brazil, Canada, China, India, Germany, the Netherlands and the U.K.

Grants from the Nordson Corporation Foundation accounted for approximately $5.4 million of the total amount awarded and were distributed in the areas of arts and culture, human welfare and education. Education was the largest giving area, in accordance with the funding focus of the Foundation.

Among several major gifts this year were a $208,000 grant to Invent Now, Inc. and a $310,000 grant to TechCorps. These two grants anchor Nordson’s commitment to developing the next generation of scientists and engineers by providing STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) programming to students as early as first grade. Invent Now runs Camp and Club Inventions in the communities where Nordson has facilities. Nordson is building TechCorps’ capacity to operate computer coding camps in those same communities.

In addition to grants awarded by the Nordson Corporation Foundation, Nordson provided an additional $2.9 million in direct corporate support to various organizations through its Matching Gift program, United Way, scholarships and other corporate donations. Nordson employees also donated thousands of hours of their time to charity during the year through the company’s Time ‘n Talent volunteer program.

Nordson also continued its successful Nordson BUILDS scholarship program in 2015. Now in its third year, the program supports students pursuing majors in manufacturing, engineering-related STEM careers, or business disciplines leading to a career in industry and corporate America. One hundred and three students received close to $400,000 in scholarships.

“An important value in Nordson’s corporate philosophy is giving back to the communities where we live and work,” stated Cecilia Render, Executive Director, Nordson Corporation Foundation. “We are proud to support the important work these agencies provide and hope that through our contributions, we can assist in leveraging other support for them.”

The Nordson Corporation Foundation is the successor to the Nordson Foundation, which was created in 1952 by Walter G. Nord, founder of Nordson Corporation. In 1988, the original foundation was reorganized to create the Nord Family Foundation and the Nordson Corporation Foundation. Since 1989, the Nordson Corporation Foundation has awarded tens of millions of dollars in grants in four broad categories: arts and culture, civic affairs, education and human welfare. More information on applying for grants is available at www.nordson.com/givingback.

Nordson Corporation engineers, manufactures and markets differentiated products and systems used for the precision dispensing and processing of adhesives, coatings, polymers and plastics, sealants, biomaterials and other materials and for fluid management, test and inspection, UV curing and plasma surface treatment, all supported by application expertise and direct global sales and service. Nordson serves a wide variety of consumer non-durable, durable and technology end markets including packaging, nonwovens, electronics, medical, appliances, energy, transportation, construction, and general product assembly and finishing. Founded in 1954 and headquartered in Westlake, Ohio, the company has operations and support offices in more than 30 countries. Visit Nordson on the web at www.nordson.com, www.twitter.com/Nordson_Corp or www.facebook.com/nordson.