WASHINGTON (CBSDC/AP) — Candy maker Mars Inc. is donating $5 million to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History to create a new gallery focused on business and innovation in the United States dating back to the 1700s.

The McLean, Va.-based maker of Snickers, M&Ms and pet foods is announcing the gift Wednesday as the lead sponsor of a planned “American Enterprise” exhibit. The 8,000-square-foot multimedia gallery will trace the nation’s economic development from a small agricultural nation to one of the world’s largest economies.

The Smithsonian is naming the gallery the Mars Hall of American Business. It’s scheduled to open in 2015 after a renovation of the museum’s west wing.

Mars President Paul Michaels says the new gallery will show how U.S. companies and innovators have changed the way the world works.

Production of M&Ms began in Newark, New Jersey in 1941.

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