BLACK ENTERPRISE Announces the 40 Best Companies for Diversity

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    NEW YORK, June 12 /PRNewswire/ -- BLACK ENTERPRISE (BE) today announced
 its third annual list of the best companies for diversity as featured in
 the July 2007 cover story. In selecting the top 40, BE conducted a
 comprehensive outreach effort to the CEOs and diversity executives of the
 top-grossing 1,000 publicly traded companies and the 50 leading global
 companies with significant U.S. operations. BE's corporate diversity survey
 focused primarily on activities related to the participation of African
 Americans and other ethnic minority groups in four key areas: supplier
 diversity, senior management, board involvement, and employee base.
     (Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20070612/NYTU040 )
     Experts agree that although all four areas are important in determining
 a company's commitment to diversity and inclusion, procurement and senior
 management are the most clearly measurable. Therefore, BE weighed these two
 categories most heavily. "You can measure senior leadership and its impact
 on the policies and programs that affect minority issues, such as
 mentorship and talent management, and the understanding of new, emerging
 markets," says Marlon Cousin, managing partner of The Marquin Group, a
 diverse executive recruiting firm based in Atlanta. "You can measure the
 outreach effect that supplier diversity has on communities in the jobs and
 opportunities it creates. When a minority supplier employs 25 or more
 people because of a contract with a large corporation, it creates economic
 stability and educational growth within families."
     For some companies, the shift in focus made a difference in their
 making the list. This year, BE saw a 19% increase in survey participation
 from 2006, along with several newcomers: WGL Holdings Inc., TIAA-CREF,
 Starbucks Coffee Co., Johnson Controls Inc., Ryder System Inc., Comcast,
 Texas Instruments, State Farm(R) Insurance, Exelon Corp., Eli Lilly and
 Co., and General Mills.
     "In developing this year's list, we wanted to make sure we identified
 companies that viewed diversity as a business imperative," says BE Careers
 and Lifestyle Editor Sonia Alleyne. "In fact, several of the 40 Best
 Companies for Diversity excel in all four categories we surveyed, including
 Denny's Corp., Fannie Mae, McDonald's Corp., and WGL Holdings Inc. A varied
 pool of senior managers and suppliers at these companies, along with their
 strengths in developing a diverse workforce and corporate board, will
 enable them to be even more competitive on a global scale."
     With the number of U.S. ethnic or racial minorities having risen to
 more than 100 million -- around one third of the population -- BE seized
 the opportunity within its diversity report to examine companies on a
 secondary category: marketing and outreach. Criteria included advertising,
 promotions, community outreach, and scholarships. A large number of
 corporations, however, could not fully disclose their marketing information
 because of sensitive marketing investments or competitive concerns. Using
 independent data from sources such as TNS Media Intelligence, as well as
 information the companies did provide, BE developed a ranking of the 15
 Best Companies in Marketing Diversity.
     The black enterprise 40 Best Companies for Diversity list includes the
 following:
     Aetna - Hartford, CT                Marriott International Inc. -
                                         Washington, D.C.
     Aflac Inc. - Columbus, GA           McDonald's Corp. - Oak Brook, IL
     ARAMARK - Philadelphia, PA          MGM MIRAGE - Las Vegas, NV
     AT&T Inc. - San Antonio, TX         Pepco Holdings, Inc. - Washington,
                                         D.C.
     Bank of America - Charlotte, NC     Pepsi Bottling Group Inc. -
                                         Somers, NY
     The Coca-Cola Co. - Atlanta, GA     PepsiCo - Purchase, NY
     Comcast - Philadelphia, PA          PG&E Corp. - San Francisco, CA
     DaimlerChrysler Corp. - Auburn      Pitney Bowes - Stamford, CT
     Hills, MI
     Denny's Corp. - Spartanburg, SC     Ryder System Inc. - Miami, FL
     Eastman Kodak - Rochester, NY       Starbucks Coffee Co. - Seattle, WA
     Eli Lilly & Co. - Indianapolis, IN  Starwood Hotels & Resorts
                                         Worldwide Inc.
                                         - White Plains, NY
     Exelon Corp. - Chicago, IL          State Farm Insurance -
                                         Bloomington, IL
     Fannie Mae - Washington, D.C.       Texas Instruments, Dallas, TX
     FedEx Corp. - Memphis, TN           TIAA-CREF, New York, NY
     Ford Motor Co. - Dearborn, MI       Toyota Motor North America Inc. -
                                         New York, NY
     General Mills, Minneapolis, MN      UPS - Atlanta, GA
     General Motors - Detroit, MI        Wachovia Corp. - Charlotte, NC
     IBM Corp. - Armonk, NY              WGL Holdings Inc. - Washington,
                                         D.C.
     Johnson Controls Inc. - Milwaukee,  Xerox Corp. - Stamford, CT
     WI
     Kellogg Co. - Battle Creek, MI      Yum! Brands Inc. - Louisville, KY
     The black enterprise 15 Best Companies in Marketing Diversity include
 the following:
     Allstate Corp. - Northbrook, IL     Procter & Gamble - Cincinnati, OK
     American Airlines Inc. - Ft.        State Farm Insurance -
     Worth, TX                           Bloomington, IL
     DaimlerChrysler - Auburn Hills, MI  Time Warner Inc. - New York, NY
     Ford Motor Co. - Dearborn, MI       Toyota Motor North America Inc. -
                                         New York, NY
     General Motors - Detroit, MI        Tyson Foods Inc. - Springdale, AR
     McDonald's Corp. - Oak Brook, IL    Verizon - Basking Ridge, NJ
     Nike Inc. - Beaverton, OR           Wal-Mart Stores Inc. -
                                         Bentonville, AR
     PepsiCo Inc. - Purchase, NY
     The complete special report on the best companies for diversity,
 including methodology and selection criteria, is available in the July 2007
 issue of black enterprise, on newsstands June 26.
     BLACK ENTERPRISE, your ultimate guide to financial empowerment, is the
 premier business and investment resource for African Americans. Since 1970,
 BE has provided essential business information and advice to professionals,
 corporate executives, entrepreneurs, and decision makers. The monthly
 publication provides 3.9 million readers with information on
 entrepreneurship, careers, and financial management. As the definitive
 source of information for and about African American business markets and
 leaders, BE is the authority for business news and trends.
 
 

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