[Congressional Record Volume 152, Number 56 (Wednesday, May 10, 2006)]
[Senate]
[Pages S4329-S4330]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         GREEN MOUNTAIN COFFEE ROASTERS: TOP CORPORATE CITIZEN

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, it gives me great pleasure to congratulate 
Mr. Bob Stiller, president and chief executive officer, and the 600 
employees of Green Mountain Coffee Roasters on their selection as the 
Nation's top corporate citizen by Business Ethics Magazine. In the best 
traditions of Vermont, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters is about more 
than making a profit--they are about fostering a strong commitment to 
corporate social responsibility.
  Through the company's support of organizations like the Rainforest 
Alliance, a non profit dedicated to protecting ecosystems, and Coffee 
Kids, an international nonprofit seeking to improve the quality of life 
for children and families in coffee-growing communities, Green Mountain 
Coffee Roasters has been a pioneer in the fair trade coffee movement. 
The company has also taken its socially responsible mission into the 
halls of our government, when, in 2002, Green Mountain formed a joint 
alliance with the U.S. Agency for International Development aimed at 
improving the livelihoods for those in improvised coffee growing 
regions.
  Green Mountain has maintained these strong corporate ethics while 
continuing to build a robust earnings record. In 2005, the company 
reported revenue of $161.5 million, with net income of $9 million, a 
15-percent increase over the year prior. And in the first quarter of 
fiscal year 2006, Green Mountain's fair trade coffee represented 26-
percent of total sales, an increase of 68-percent compared to the same 
period last year.
  I commend this outstanding Vermont company and ask unanimous consent 
that the Business Ethics article naming Green Mountain Coffee Roasters 
as the Nation's top corporate citizen be printed in the Record, along 
with a recent editorial from the Burlington Free Press.
  There being no objection, the material was ordered to be printed in 
the Record, as follows:

              [From Business Ethics Magazine, Spring 2006]

100 Best Corporate Citizens for 2006--Celebrating Companies that excel 
               at serving a Variety of Stakeholders Well

       ``We take them coffee picking, and they do some hand 
     sorting of beans in the hot sun,'' says Winston Rost, Green 
     Mountain Coffee Roaster's director of coffee appreciation, 
     describing the annual trip he leads of a dozen employees, 
     visiting coffee-growing cooperatives in Vera Cruz and Oaxaca, 
     Mexico. With a newfound appreciation for how hard the work 
     is, some roasters say they'll never spill another bean again, 
     Rost adds. This kind of attention to the human element of 
     business offers a hint at why Green Mountain Coffee of 
     Waterbury, Vt., is No. 1 this year on the list of the 100 
     Best Corporate Citizens.
       Since its founding in 1981, the company has been socially 
     and environmentally active, ``but it wasn't all that 
     extensive or organized at first,'' recalls CEO Bob Stiller. 
     Green Mountain upped the ante in 1989 when it formed an 
     environmental committee and created a rainforest nut coffee 
     to support the Rainforest Alliance, a non-profit dedicated to 
     protecting ecosystems. The company has grown increasingly 
     active in the countries where coffee is grown and has been a 
     pioneer in the fair trade movement, which pays coffee growers 
     stable, fair prices. But the biggest change came in the early 
     1990s when the company began sending its employees on trips 
     to see where the coffee is grown. Many employees ``said it 
     changed their lives,'' Stiller adds.
       Green Mountain, with 600 employees, saw 2005 revenue of 
     $161.5 million with net income of $9 million, a 15 percent 
     increase over the year prior. Since 1988, it has donated more 
     than $500,000 to Coffee Kids, an international nonprofit 
     seeking to improve the quality of life for children and 
     families in coffee-growing communities. Through the Coffee 
     Kids program, the company supports a micro-lending facility 
     in Huatusco, Mexico and a sustainable sanitation system in 
     Cosaulan, Mexico. It also has provided financial support to 
     the FomCafe cooperative's quality control training program, 
     which helps farmers earn higher profits for coffee.
       In 2006 Green Mountain will release its first corporate 
     responsibility report. ``We are focusing on measurement so we 
     can understand the economic and social impact of the company 
     and create indices so we can better focus those efforts,'' 
     Stiller says. ``Just the process of getting all that 
     information in one place is valuable,'' notes Michael Dupee, 
     vice president of corporate social responsibility. ``It makes 
     you think about and gain insight into what's working and 
     what's not, so even if you never published anything, it's 
     worthwhile.''
       In 2004 the company expanded from one executive in social 
     responsibility to three. Besides Dupee's position, there is a 
     director of sustainable coffee and a vice president of 
     environmental affairs. Some 45 percent of Green Mountain's 
     coffee is purchased farmer-direct, which cuts out the share 
     middle men take. And 20 percent of coffee sold is certified 
     fair trade, which incorporates principles of environmental 
     sustainability and respect for cultural identity, while 
     guaranteeing growers minimums of $1.26 per pound when 
     commodity prices might be far lower. Consumer interest in 
     fair trade is growing, Stiller says, ``because through their 
     purchases they are wanting to make a difference in the lives 
     of growers.''
       Efforts like these have earned Green Mountain a spot in the 
     top 10 on Business Ethics' list for four years running. Its 
     meticulous attention to corporate social responsibility 
     conveys well what the 100 Best Corporate Citizens list is 
     about. The best-managed firms today--in this era when 
     societal expectations of business are rising--can no longer 
     focus solely on stockholder return. Companies that aim to 
     prosper over the long term also emphasize good jobs for 
     employees, environmental sustainability, healthy community 
     relations, and great products for customers.

[[Page S4330]]

       Seeking to put numerical ratings on service to these 
     various stakeholder groups, the 100 Best Corporate Citizens 
     list uses data provided by KLD Research & Analytics of 
     Boston. It employs statistical analysis to identify those 
     major public U.S. companies that excel at serving a variety 
     of stakeholders well, using eight measures of service: 
     stockholders, community, governance, diversity, employees, 
     environment, human rights, and product.
                                  ____


            [From the Burlington Free Press, Apr. 29, 2006]

               Waterbury Coffee Firm Deserves High Praise

       Vermont should take pride in the accomplishments of Green 
     Mountain Coffee Roasters Inc., the Waterbury company named 
     the nation's top corporate citizen by Business Ethics 
     magazine.
       For this company, which employs 600 people, the human 
     dimension clearly matters. Employees, the local community and 
     coffee workers in far-away places have benefited from Green 
     Mountain Coffee's refreshing divergence from the standard of 
     bottom-line business.
       In its annual ``100 Best Corporate Citizens,'' Business 
     Ethics magazine praised Green Mountain Coffee for its 
     corporate social responsibility, in particular its commitment 
     to fair trade, a Free Press story said. Fair trade ensures 
     coffee growers are paid fairly with a guaranteed minimum 
     price. Sales of the company's fair trade coffee have done 
     extremely well, especially with a lucrative deal signed last 
     fall with McDonald's restaurants in the Northeast.
       Not only are the company's ethics admirable, Green Mountain 
     also makes money--a winning combination that other businesses 
     should heed for long-term success.
       Within the organization, employees receive a firsthand 
     education on the product they handle. Every year, a group of 
     U.S. workers travel to coffee-growing areas in Mexico to 
     experience the hard labor of picking and sorting beans. 
     According to the magazine's Web site, the annual trips have 
     given these employees a real appreciation of the work done in 
     Mexico. It can be a life-changing experience.
       The magazine, which has compiled the corporate citizens' 
     list for seven years, has included Green Mountain Coffee in 
     four of those years, including a second place last year. 
     Chittenden Corp. was the only other Vermont business on the 
     list, coming in at 26th place. The bank also deserves 
     recognition.
       To compile the list, eight measures of service are 
     considered by Business Ethics: stockholders, community, 
     governance, diversity, employees, environment, human rights, 
     and the product, the magazine's Web site said.
       There are many companies in Vermont that take their social 
     responsibilities seriously. In 1990, Vermont Businesses for 
     Social Responsibility was created by a group of 
     businesspeople who shared the belief that companies have a 
     duty to their employees, the environment and their 
     communities as well as to their stockholders. Last month, the 
     organization named Green Mountain Power of Colchester its 
     ``Large Company Leader of the Year'' for the company's 
     socially responsible approach to business. It's an impressive 
     award, and a rare one for a utility.
       With companies like Green Mountain Coffee, Chittenden 
     Corp., and Green Mountain Power in our midst, the bar has 
     been set high for other companies in the state and across the 
     country. Bravo to them for leading the way.

                          ____________________