First Lady Praises Companies Honored for Social Responsibility

Hillary Rodham Clinton praised a group of companies this week that pursued social responsibility as well as profit, saying the business world must play “an expanded role in conveying values.”

Clinton was in New York on Tuesday to honor the recipients of the Business Enterprise Trust awards, which go to companies that have found creative ways to blend good business with concern for social issues.

The trust was founded in 1989 by TV producer and civil libertarian Norman Lear, and its board includes prominent business figures such as financier Warren Buffet and Katharine Graham, former publisher of the Washington Post.

Two companies and three individuals were honored at a VIP breakfast Tuesday. The supermarket chain Finast was cited for its investment in stores in inner-city Cleveland.

Former CBS President Frank Stanton received the lifetime achievement award for championing the First Amendment.

Food service operator Daka International was honored for a progressive AIDS education program. Jack Stack, president of Springfield Remanufacturing Co., was cited for rescuing the failing firm with an innovative worker-management system.

Julia Stasch, president of the real estate management firm Stein & Co., was honored for improving employment opportunities for women in the construction industry.