Corporate Responsibility Magazine (CRM) has released its 100 Best Corporate Citizens List for 2011.
Six of the
100 companies listed are from Minnesota, including number-three ranked General Mills, Inc.
The list is compiled using publicly available data in seven categories: climate change, employee relations, environment, financial, governance, human rights, and philanthropy.
The six Minnesota companies included are (ranking in parentheses):
General Mills, Inc (3)
Xcel Energy, Inc. (30)
3M Co. (32)
Hormel Foods Corp (40)
Mosaic Company (45)
Medtronic, Inc. (77)
The list includes a "yellow card" category for companies that appear on the list "despite some self-caused reputational damage," according to CRM--usually a "pending or completed administrative or official legal sanction."
Minnesota was represented in this arena as well; CRM notes a December 2010 suit filed against 3M by the State of Minnesota "for contaminating the state's waters."