3M chairman, president and CEO George W. Buckley told shareholders at the Annual Meeting in St. Paul today that the new innovation heyday for 3M is now, citing simultaneous growth in multiple businesses across the company.

“The innovators of 3M are capable of truly tremendous accomplishments. Our outstanding results are the product of the imagination, ingenuity and hard work of 3M people all around the world.”

“Innovation will always separate you from the pack,” Buckley said. “The innovators of 3M are capable of truly tremendous accomplishments. Our outstanding results are the product of the imagination, ingenuity and hard work of 3M people all around the world.”

Buckley told shareholders that results for the first quarter posted high growth rates with record sales of $7.3 billion, up over 15 percent. Earnings rose 16 percent to a $1.49 per share, which is an all-time high for the company in the first quarter. This follows 2010’s full-year results of $26.7 billion and earnings per share of $5.63, up 15 percent and 25 percent, respectively.

Highlighting growth in multiple businesses in multiple markets, Buckley described new capabilities in fast-growing segments like software and electronics, which reach across the entire company from health care to safety and security, as well as advances in the core spaces such as abrasives, adhesives, industrial tapes, and office products.

Buckley also said 3M’s largest growth platform is its international opportunity. “Our international business has never been as robust, as diverse, as large, or as promising as it is today.” Emerging markets represent more than a third of 3M’s worldwide sales, and international sales comprise more than two-thirds of the company’s total sales.