MOLINE, Ill. – For the second time this year, Deere & Co. has been named to a list of top corporate citizens. Citizens Advisers, one of the United States’ oldest and largest socially responsible investment management firms, announced recently that it had included Deere in its inaugural list of Top 10 Corporate Citizens. In May, Deere & Co. was ranked sixth in Business Ethics magazine’s annual listing of the top 100 corporate citizens.
The firms named to the Citizens’ list were chosen because of their sound board practices. Companies selected were those with boards that are highly independent in membership, restrict non-audit services of independent auditors and tie executive compensation to long-term performance targets.
The 10 top companies on the list were drawn from the Citizens Index, which consists of large-cap companies identified for industry representation, financial soundness and corporate citizenship. According to the Citizens Advisers Web site, the index is made up of 300 U.S. companies that have been the organization’s criteria for financial strength and corporate responsibility.
“We specialize in identifying good corporate citizens,” says Citizen Advisers President Sophia Collier. “At a time when it’s hard to avoid reading about corporate scandals, we though tit would be refreshing to show the other side of the story.”
Citizens selected the companies based on three broad criteria: board independence, auditor independence and senior management compensation. “Each company scored very high in two categories and many shined bright in all three,” Collier says.
Rounding out the organization’s top 10 list were:
1. AES Corp.
2. Deere & Co.
3. Golden West Financial Corp.
4. Graco
5. Hershey Foods Corp.
6. Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings
7. Noble Energy
8. Nucor Corp.
9. Pactive Corp.
10. Western Gas Resources
The author is associate editor of Lawn & Landscape magazine and can be reached at lspiers@gie.net.