3M Receives Green to Gold Award from Duquesne University Beard Institute

ST. PAUL, Minn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--3M is the winner of the 2011 Green to Gold Award from Duquesne University’s Beard Institute. The award recognizes an American company that demonstrates commercial success in sustainable business practices.

“Our sustainability efforts are focused on both reducing our environmental footprint and growing 3M through the creation of products that help our customers address their sustainability challenges.”

“At 3M, we’ve long recognized that what’s good for the environment can also be good for business,” said Jean Sweeney, vice president, 3M Environmental, Health and Safety Operations. “Our sustainability efforts are focused on both reducing our environmental footprint and growing 3M through the creation of products that help our customers address their sustainability challenges.”

To receive the Green to Gold Award, candidate companies are selected based on their performance in the following annual indices: Dow Jones Sustainability Index, KLD Socrates Corporate Social Rankings Monitor and financial performance against their peer industry group. Following the initial analysis of company performance in each index, candidate companies are then screened by a jury panel of Duquesne University MBA graduates and the winner is selected by Dan Esty and Andrew Winston, the co-authors of Green to Gold, a seminal book regarding private enterprise and sustainability, and other leaders in sustainability.

Sweeney added, “This award embodies a powerful message of encouragement to all companies: when we innovate with the future in mind, we can enhance the environment and our businesses. We also hope it captures the imagination of students everywhere to become the next generation of leaders addressing these challenges.”

This year’s award finalists include Colgate Palmolive, JC Penney, Target and Entergy.

About 3M
3M captures the spark of new ideas and transforms them into thousands of ingenious products. Our culture of creative collaboration inspires a never-ending stream of powerful technologies that make life better. 3M is the innovation company that never stops inventing. With $27 billion in sales, 3M employs about 80,000 people worldwide and has operations in more than 65 countries. For more information, visit www.3M.com/sustainability or follow @3MNews on Twitter.