Companies are realizing the importance and the credibility of the only business list for diversity in the marketplace
Luke Visconti, partner and cofounder of DiversityInc.

DiversityInc announced it's Top 50 Companies for Diversity list today. A total of 256 companies participated.

"Companies are realizing the importance and the credibility of the only business list for diversity in the marketplace," said Luke Visconti, partner and cofounder of DiversityInc.

For 2006, DiversityInc gave heavier emphasis to the most important aspect of diversity management—CEO commitment—and evaluated each company against its own industry and employee skills sets. In addition, new this year was the requirement that companies on The DiversityInc Top 50 Companies for Diversity list demonstrate consistent strength in the four areas the survey measures: human capital, corporate communications, supplier development and CEO commitment.

In human capital, the study evaluated retention across all racial/ethnic/gender categories, looking for consistency that proves a company has unbiased retention for all groups. In corporate communications, DiversityInc refined questions on diversity training, employee-resource groups, mentoring and multicultural marketing. In supplier diversity, the study separated data on women- and minority-owned businesses. And in CEO commitment, DiversityInc sought proof of the chief executive's direct involvement in diversity initiatives.

And the top five companies on The DiversityInc Top 50 Companies for Diversity list are:

1. Verizon Communications/Wireless
2. Consolidated Edison Co. of New York
3. The Coca-Cola Co.
4. Health Care Service Corp.
5. HBO
6. PricewaterhouseCoopers
7. Turner Broadcasting
8. Abbott Laboratories
9. BellSouth
10. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida
11. JPMorgan Chase
12. Comerica
13. HSBC
14. Sodexho
15. Cingular Wireless
16. Colgate-Palmolive
17. Wells Fargo
18. PepsiCo
19. Sempra Energy
20. Macy's/Bloomingdale's
21. Wachovia
22. Marriott International
23. Allstate
24. Ernst & Young
25. Bank of America
26. IKON Office Solutions
27. Citigroup
28. SunTrust Banks
29. Toyota North America
30. American Express
31. Hewlett-Packard
32. Cox Communications
33. Starwood Hotels
34. Merck & Co.
35. Bausch & Lomb
36. Kaiser Permanente
37. Ford Motor Co.
38. Kraft Foods
39. Sprint Nextel
40. MGM MIRAGE
41. Harris
42. Novartis Pharmaceutical
43. DaimlerChrysler
44. Merrill Lynch & Co.
45. Starbucks Coffee Co.
46. SC Johnson
47. WellPoint
48. Prudential Financial
49. Compuware
50. Darden