2006 Award for Corporate Excellence Finalists Selected

I’m Josette Sheeran, Under Secretary for Economic, Business and Agricultural Affairs, and I’m honored to announce the 2006 finalists for the Secretary of State’s prestigious Award for Corporate Excellence (or ACE).

The Secretary of State has awarded the ACE since 1999 to companies large and small in recognition of extraordinary work or projects that help people in their host countries.

ACE finalists are businesses that recognize the critical role our companies play globally in advancing good corporate citizenship, innovation and democratic principles.

This year, 12 American companies operating abroad were chosen from over 50 nominations submitted by American Ambassadors around the world. In each of these companies there are leaders who have the vision to look beyond the bottom line, to build lasting bridges to their host countries, and to improve the lives of countless men, women and children at home and overseas.

We at the Department of State are committed to working with American businesses to further their best practices worldwide, and we salute the contributions of all the nominees.

The 12 finalists for the 2006 ACE are:

 • APCO in China for promoting best business practices and fighting HIV-AIDS on a pro bono basis;
 • Chevron in Indonesia for earthquake and tsunami relief, vocational training and promoting anti-bribery practices;
 • Coca-Cola in Mexico for building schools and shelters and micro-enterprise training;
 • Delta Construction in Vietnam for vocational training centers;
 • General Motors in Colombia for reintegrating demobilized former paramilitary members into Colombian society;
 • Goldman Sachs in Chile for endowing a gift of 680,000 acres of Patagonian wilderness to the Wildlife Conservation Society for a nature preserve;
 • Kerr McGee in Benin for humanitarian and development projects and financing construction of schools;
 • McDonald’s in Guatemala for its Ronald McDonald House and for helping to fund a biomedical laboratory;
 • Microsoft in Egypt for Internet learning centers, IT labs in orphanages and for training unemployed youth in IT usage;
 • Motorola in Iraq for contributing to security and safety, and for successful deployment under challenging conditions;
 • Pfizer in Pakistan for earthquake response, for providing computer skills to high-schoolers and for healthcare clinics for women and children; and
 • Sambazon (SAM-BA-ZON) in Brazil for promoting sustainable development in the Brazilian rainforest while improving the economic condition of indigenous people.

Congratulations to all the finalists. Your work draws attention to the best qualities that America can embody overseas – compassion, innovation, leadership and community involvement.

We are particularly pleased that almost half the finalists are from the Western Hemisphere – a region with which the United States has deep and lasting ties. Latin America is one of our most important trade partners. Nearly a quarter of our exports go to Latin America and our trade with that region totals nearly $500 billion dollars. We are also closely intertwined by investments. U.S. investment generates some two million jobs in Latin America and nearly $400 billion dollars in sales. And Latin Americans’ investments provide nearly 400,000 U.S. jobs and annual sales of over $150 billion dollars. These growing economic ties are reinforced by strong cultural and family ties.

Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will announce this year’s winners of the ACE on November 6 here at the State Department.

Please continue to visit this site as we announce the ACE winners and report on other economic work here at the State Department. Thank you.