Another reason we do it is to provide a contrast to the many "best company lists." Although there are many factors that make a company stand out from its peers including governance, employee and community relations, scoring a company on many criteria at once leads to a diluted results. A company can be mediocre on environment performance but excel on community relations and still get high marks, for example. Also, many lists focus on the largest companies, mostly in the U.S.
Over the years we've found the exercise of choosing only 20 companies enables us to zero in on the truly outstanding companies that stand head and shoulders above the crowd on environmental performance. Since we're examining a small universe of companies, we look at them in great depth. We don't select a company because it's in "solar" or is a "renewable energy developer." We always ask: what makes this company a leader? And ask hard questions, such as: Does this company have any problems in the communities it operates in?
By analyzing companies based on the deep knowledge and experience of our judges, rather than by using numerical formulas, we're able to choose small, medium and large companies from every region of the world.
The 2009 SB20 List
|
Company Name
|
Ticker
|
Sector
|
Country
|
| |
|
|
|
|
Bendigo and Adelaide Bank
|
BEN.ASX
|
Corporate Pioneer/ Finance
|
Australia
|
|
Chipotle Mexican Grill
|
NYSE: CMG
|
Corporate Pioneer/Food
|
USA
|
|
First Solar
|
Nasdaq: FSLR
|
Solar Energy
|
USA
|
|
Gamesa Corporacion Technnologica
|
GAM.MC; GCTAF.PK
|
Wind Energy
|
Spain
|
|
Google, Inc.
|
Nasdaq: GOOG
|
Corporate Pioneer/
Technology
|
USA
|
|
Herman Miller
|
Nasdaq: MLHR
|
Corporate Pioneer/
Green Building
|
USA
|
|
IBM
|
NYSE:IBM
|
Corporate Pioneer/
Technology
|
USA
|
|
Naturex SA
|
NRX.PA
|
Food
|
France
|
|
Novo Nordisk
|
NOVO B.CO;
NYSE: NVO
|
Corporate Pioneer/
Pharmaceuticals
|
Denmark
|
|
Novozymes
|
NZYM.CO; NVZMY.PK
|
Industrial/
Cellulosic Ethanol
|
Denmark
|
|
Ormat Technologies
|
NYSE: ORA
|
Geothermal
|
USA
|
|
Philips Electronics
|
NYSE: PHG
|
Corporate Pioneer/
Green Building
|
Netherlands
|
|
Plant Health Care
|
PHC.L; PLHCF.PK
|
Agriculture
|
UK
|
|
Pure Technologies
|
PUR.V
|
Water
|
Canada
|
|
Telvent Git, SA.
|
Nasdaq: TLVT
|
Smart Grid
|
Spain
|
|
Timberland
|
NYSE: TBL
|
Corporate Pioneer/
Apparel
|
USA
|
|
United Natural
|
Nasdaq: UNFI
|
Food
|
USA
|
|
Vestas Wind Systems
|
VWS.CO; VWDRY.PK
|
Wind Energy
|
Denmark
|
|
WaterFurnace Renewable Energy
|
WFI.TO; WFIFF.PK
|
Geothermal Heat Pumps
|
USA
|
|
Westport Innovations
|
Nasdaq: WPRT; WPT.TO
|
Transportation
|
Canada
|
There are two categories of companies:
Green Pioneers: companies that produce green products/ services, such as solar and wind;
Corporate Pioneers: companies that produce conventional products/ services that are greening their operations and product lines, such as electronics and pharmaceuticals.
The judges consider these questions when they nominate companies:
* Is the company a leader in sustainability that others can look to as a model?
* Is the company meeting aggressive targets and setting new ones?
* Is the company having or has the potential to make a big impact?
* Does the company stand out from its peers?
* Is the company profitable or on a clear path towards profitability?
After they select the leading companies, we look at the list as a whole and choose a mix of companies in terms of size, industry sector, and region of the world.
Read Snapshots of all the SB20 Companies by clicking into each company name on the list.
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