Among big companies, these are the good guys

They employ a large number of skilled workers in Northern Colorado and occupy huge buildings. They are at the whim of executives and shareholders who might not have the slightest inkling about the needs of the region, but many of our large tech businesses are good corporate citizens.

The CRO – an industry publication also known as The Corporate Responsibility Officer – recently released its 2007 rankings of the 100 Best Corporate Citizens. Several Northern Colorado tech employers landed high on the list.

CRO selected its Best Corporate Citizens from among 1,100 public companies based on a variety of policies and actions. The companies were given scores in categories focusing on shareholders, community, governance, diversity, employees, environment, human rights and products, then ranked by their average scores.

Northern Colorado’s two highest ranked firms are relative newcomers.

Advanced Micro Devices Inc., which opened its Fort Collins facility in late 2005, was in the No. 2 spot on the corporate citizenship list, with an average score of 1.703. AMD scored high in the employee relations and environment categories.

The Sunnyvale, Calif.-based company has a Spirit of Success program to reward its employees with items that range from trips to the spa to cash.

Santa Clara-based Intel Corp. scored an average of 1.399 points, putting it at No. 5. Intel had the highest score of all 100 companies listed for its employee relations – the new Fort Collins facility will have a gym and “meditation” rooms. Intel has landed on the Best Corporate Citizens list every year since its 2000 inception.

United Way record

In a recent example of its citizenship, employees of the Fort Collins office of Intel set a new workplace record for giving to the United Way of Larimer County. Workers pledged $244,658 toward the United Way’s 2006 fundraising campaign. The Intel Foundation will match the employee contributions, making the total pledge just over $470,000.

“We are in awe of the generosity of Intel’s amazing people,´ said Gordon Thibedeau, United Way of Larimer County’s president and CEO. “Their gift to this community will have long-lasting effects. Intel and its employees remind us that even in tough times people who care about their community find a way to help.”

Agilent Technologies, also based in Santa Clara, was seventh on the CRO list with an average score of 1.3. The company, which recently sold more than 1,000 acres of land to Larimer County for its open space program, received its highest mark for environmental stewardship.

Rochester, N.Y.-based Eastman Kodak Co. came in at No. 34 with an average of .76. The company, which has a manufacturing facility in Windsor, received its highest score in workforce diversity. Other high scores were in employee relations and environment.

Kristen S. Bastian covers technology for the Northern Colorado Business Report. She can be reached at (970) 221-5400, ext. 219 or [email protected].

on Facebook on LinkedIn