The Ron Brown Award

For further information: Melissa Berman
The Conference Board
(212) 339-0472

For Immediate Release Release #4519A

THE RON BROWN AWARD: A CONFERENCE BOARD-MANAGED AWARD
HONORING COMPANIES FOR OUTSTANDING CORPORATE CITIZENSHIP

New Study Pinpoints the Best of the Best in Employee and Community Relations

The Conference Board has begun to process corporate entries for the Ron Brown Award, the only Presidential Award honoring companies for outstanding achievements in employee and community relations. This year's Award will be presented by the President of the United States in early spring.

Now in its third year, this special Award is named for the late Ron Brown, U.S. Secretary of Commerce, a longtime champion of companies committed to corporate citizenship.

Past winners of the Award include Anheuser-Busch, BankBoston, IBM Corporation, Levi Strauss & Company, and Seafirst/Bank of America.

Corporate programs submitted for the Award's consideration need: to be distinctive, innovative, and effective; to be significant and have measurable impact; have broad social and economic potential; to not go beyond or jeopardize the inherent resources of the organization or its mission; to be adaptable to others.

Organizations are chosen by a diverse group of private sector experts in the following categories, under which are included here past submissions, winners and honorable mentions of the Award. More detailed descriptions of winning programs can be found in the new Conference Board report Corporate Achievement in Employee and Community Relations by Deborah Parkinson.

FAMILY SUPPORT

Bright Horizons Family Solutions -- a leading provider of work-site child-care centers, established an independent nonprofit organization to bring their services to homeless children and their parents. (1998 Honorable Mention)

Cascade Engineering -- has a progressive work/life support system which recognizes that employee needs change according to their stage of life, encourages volunteerism, and addresses domestic violence in workplace programs as well as nationally.

Lancaster Laboratories -- has a unique Family Center, an interrelated child-care, elder-care, and fitness facility that supports the growing number of employees who are sandwiched between child- and elder-care responsibilities, and promotes health and fitness. (1998 Honorable Mention)

Texas Instruments -- offers its employees a comprehensive set of work-family/life services and has partnered with other major corporations to improve the standard and availability of dependent care in their local communities.

HEALTH, SAFETY, AND WORKPLACE SECURITY

Bayer Corporation -- This company's Ergonomics Initiative has drastically reduced its injury rate and workers' compensation claims.

First Chicago NBD Corporation -- has a wellness initiative focusing on women's health concerns and mental health management. It has earned the company a reputation as one of America's healthiest companies.

PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT AND TRAINING

Brady Corporation -- uses team-based processes to promote partnerships between managers and frontline personnel, tying each employee more closely to the company's mission.

The Lincoln Electric Company -- has an incentive performance system that enables employees to earn premium pay for premium performance.

Qualcomm -- company training initiatives provide employees with multiple educational alternatives that suit their individual learning styles and align career development with business objectives.

WORKFORCE DIVERSITY

Allstate Insurance Company -- have a multipronged approach to leveraging a diverse workforce that emphasizes leadership accountability, education, measurement, and succession planning.

Corning -- has identified barriers to the progress of women in manufacturing and engineering positions and developed strategies to help them overcome these hindrances throughout the industry.

IBM Corporation -- has a long history of supporting workforce diversity through a combination of employee-driven, management-led, and community-focused initiatives. (1998 Winner)

COMMUNITY OUTREACH

General Mills -- addresses neighborhood violence by combining resident involvement and corporate support through people, expertise, and dollars.

Levi Strauss & Company -- has an anti-racism initiative that addresses prejudice and institutional racism in the company's plant communities. (1998 Winner)

The Prudential Insurance Company -- encourages young people to volunteer in their communities by providing education, information, and inspiration.

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

BankBoston -- partners with community agencies to provide specialized banking resources and expertise to low- and moderate-income individuals and small businesses. (1999 Winner)

Pfizer -- has a commitment to stay in the Brooklyn community in which it was founded and has revitalized a neighborhood distressed by urban decay and corporate flight.

Public Service Electric and Gas Company (PSE&G) -- serves as the catalyst for partnerships between community residents and government agencies, nonprofits, and corporations to develop socially and economically viable urban areas. (1998 Honorable Mention)

EDUCATION AND DEVELOPMENT

The Coca-Cola Company -- provides scholarships, employee volunteers, technical training, and an innovative tutoring program to give young people creative opportunities to advance their education and pursue their career goals.

Intel Corporation -- innovatively employs in-kind services that have helped the company improve science education and promote careers in technology to underrepresented minorities.

Seafirst/Bank of America -- has combined mentoring, paid employment, and scholarships to create long-term opportunities for the youth in their communities. (1999 Winner)

U S West -- uses its core business -- communication technologies -- to help students, teachers, entrepreneurs, and inner-city residents find new services, skills, and hope.

ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT

Anheuser-Busch -- has harnessed employee innovation to create an environmental management system that reduces resource use in all of the company's areas of operation. (1999 Winner)

Ford Motor Company -- capitalizes on employee recycling efforts by creating a marketing demand for recycled products.

Wal-Mart Stores -- combines its purchasing power with customer, associate, and vendor grassroots efforts to create comprehensive programming that promotes environmental stewardship.

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Source: The Ron Brown Award for Corporate Leadership: Corporate Achievement in Employee and Community Relations
Report #1251-99-RR
The Conference Board

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