(Justmeans.com / CSR News) -

March 16, 2010 – Corporate Responsibility Magazine (CRM) released yesterday its 11^th annual 100 Best Corporate Citizens List, including top companies like Microsoft, Nike, and Verizon.  The list is considered among America’s three most important business rankings.

Based on over 360 data points of publicly available information, the The 100 Best Corporate Citizens List is known as the world’s top corporate responsibility ranking.  Citizens are selected from the large-cap Russell 1000

Here are the top ten performers of 2009:

companies, which include the largest securities and represents roughly 90 percent of the US market.  Selected companies were ranked in seven categories: Environment, Climate Change, Human Rights, Philanthropy, Employee Relations, Financial Performance, and Governance. 

1. HP
2. Intel
3. General Mills
4. IBM
5. Kimberly-Clark
6. Abbott Labs
7. Bristol-Meyers
8. Cocal-Cola Company
9. Gap Inc.
10. Hess Corp. 

Among the top 100 are 88 companies that are listed on the NYSE Euronext exchange, emphasizing their commitment to corporate responsibility and integrity in the global market.  Duncan L. Niederauer, CEO of NYSE Euronext, says this “important initiative” speaks volumes about the quality of the international marketplace, in which these companies are observing high standards and best practices.

CRM Publisher Jay Whitehead notes the weight the List has on business performance: “Company stakeholders from investors to customers to employees to regulators watch the 100 Best Corporate Citizens List closely, and are using it now more than ever to make important decisions.  As a result, making the List is worth millions or even billions in increased shareholder and brand value.”  Because of the competitive dynamic resulting from each report, Whitehead is seeing companies improve particularly in the climate change, environment, and human rights categories.