March 16, 2007—The annual survey of the “100 Best Corporate Citizens” in the United States was released recently by CRO magazine, which published the full list in its January-February 2007 issue. The survey has reportedly gained national recognition as an indicator of best practices in the area of corporate responsibility.
This year’s 100 Best list is led, for the second year in a row, by Green Mountain Coffee Roasters of Waterbury, Vermont. It is the first time in the history of the 100 Best that a company has ranked first in two consecutive years. Green Mountain has been among the top 10 companies on the list for five years running.
Rounding out this year’s top ten are Advanced Micro Devices, Nike, Motorola, Intel, International Business Machines (IBM), Agilent Technologies, The Timberland Company, Starbucks Coffee Company, and General Mills.
The environment played an important role in this year’s 100 Best, with an increasing corporate focus on using sustainable materials and on tackling climate change. Among the top 10 companies, eight are members of the US Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Green Power Partnership, with a commitment to use green power for at least some portion of their electricity needs. Four of the top 10 are EPA Climate Leaders, who work with the government devising strategies to address global warming.
This year’s list includes 24 newcomers, with the highest-ranked being office furnishings company Steelcase Inc. (No. 17), of Grand Rapids, MI, the creator of the Think chair, an office chair made out of 44 percent recyclable material and designed to be fully recycled when no longer needed. The company was also recognized for its charitable giving and support for education.
The 100 Best list was developed by Business Ethics magazine, which was incorporated last year into The CRO, a membership organization for Corporate Responsibility Officers. The list is drawn from more than 1,100 of the largest US publicly traded companies and is largely based on the environmental, social, and governance research of KLD Research & Analytics.
More information about the 100 Best Corporate Citizens list is available on the CRO Web site.
