Nine of the top 10 companies on Business Ethics Magazine’s annual survey of the "100 Best Corporate Citizens" are members of The Center for Corporate Citizenship at Boston College.

The annual survey, which focuses on the corporate social responsibility performance of major U.S. companies, ranks companies on their performance in eight stakeholder categories: shareholders, community, governance, diversity, employees, environment, human rights, and product.

This year's "100 Best" list is led by Center member Green Mountain Coffee Roasters, which was cited for its "meticulous attention to corporate social responsibility," including its pioneering work in the fair trade movement, which pays coffee growers stable, fair prices. Green Mountain has been among the top 10 companies on Business Ethics' list for four years running.

Now in its seventh year, the top 10 of the list is dominated by technology firms. Four of these are Center members: Hewlett-Packard, who is enjoying its seventh time in the top 10; Advanced Micro Devices, who makes its first appearance on the list; Motorola, who appears in the top 10 for the third time; and Agilent Technologies, on the list for the second time.

Also on the top ten are Center members The Timberland Company, Salesforce.com (a list newcomer), Dell, and Texas Instruments.

Why the strong showing by tech? "Surprisingly, it's not due to financial out-performance," said Marjorie Kelly, Editor of Business Ethics, "since none of the top tech companies ranked in the top 10 in financial returns." Instead, Kelly noted, most top tech companies do well on environmental issues. They also tend to be active in their communities and score high in employee relations, she said. "These firms know that to attract and retain talent, it pays to be socially enlightened. High- tech seems to be a genuinely socially responsible sector."

The list saw quite a bit of turnover from 2005, with 33 companies appearing for the first time. Center member Johnson & Johnson – new to the list this year - scored particularly high in workforce diversity.

The universe of companies considered for the list encompasses U.S. firms in the Russell 1000, the S&P 500, and KLD's Domini 400 Social Index.

The top 20 companies on the list are:

1. Green Mountain Coffee Roasters*
2. Hewlett-Packard Company*
3. Advanced Micro Devices, Inc.*
4. Motorola, Inc.*
5. Agilent Technologies, Inc.*
6. Timberland Company*
7. Salesforce.com, Inc.*
8. Cisco Systems, Inc.
9. Dell Inc.*
10. Texas Instruments Incorporated*
11. Intel Corporation*
12. Johnson & Johnson*
13. NIKE, Inc.*
14. General Mills Incorporated*
15. Pitney Bowes, Inc.*
16. Wells Fargo & Company*
17. Starbucks Corporation*
18. Wainwright Bank & Trust Company
19. St. Paul Travelers Companies, Inc.
20. Ecolab Inc.

* Member of The Center for Corporate Citizenship at Boston College

More details regarding the 100 Best Corporate Citizens list are available on the Business Ethics web site at http://www.business-ethics.com/whats_new/100best.html.