NEW YORK, Mar 03, 2010 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Medtronic, Inc. (NYSE: MDT) was named today to the 11th annual "100 Best Corporate Citizens List" published by Corporate Responsibility magazine (formerly known as CRO magazine). Ranking 77th, this is the first time Medtronic has appeared on the list, which is recognized as one of the nation's top corporate responsibility rankings based on publicly-available information.

The 100 companies are selected from the Russell 1000 index of large-cap U.S. companies and ranked on more than 360 data points of information in seven categories, including: Environment, Climate Change, Human Rights, Philanthropy, Employee Relations, Financial Performance and Governance. Medtronic ranked particularly high in the areas of philanthropy, the environment and employee relations.

"Operating as a good corporate citizen has been part of Medtronic's mission from the very beginning, as we employ many of the company assets to maximize social value," said Bill Hawkins, Medtronic chairman and chief executive officer. "But in recent years we've increased our efforts to report publicly on our citizenship initiatives, as we recognize the value this increased transparency has among our many stakeholders. Our inclusion on the 2010 100 Best Corporate Citizens List acknowledges the progress we've made."

"We are seeing leading companies focusing in greater numbers on their public reporting and performance, particularly in the areas of climate change, environment, employee relations, and human rights," said Jay Whitehead, publisher of Corporate Responsibility Magazine. "Between 2009 and 2010, for instance, the top company's total score improved by 66 percent, and the average score of all 100 companies climbed by 19 percent."

This increasingly competitive environment makes Medtronic's debut on the list even more noteworthy, since the company's first Corporate Responsibility Report was released less than two years ago. Additional 2009 recognitions include appearing on the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (North America); FTSE4Good Index; Fortune's World's Most Admired Companies, Newsweek's Green Rankings (ranked 65th), Corporate Social Responsibility Index 50 (ranked 37th); and Forbes America's Most Reputable Companies (ranked 40th).

Quantifying the financial return of a good corporate citizenship policy can be challenging, but a 2009 CRO review of companies that made the list during the first nine years showed that they outperformed the rest of the Russell 1000 in three-year total returns by 26 percent.

The complete 100 Best Corporate Citizens List will be published in Corporate Responsibility Magazine's March 9 issue or online at www.thecro.com.

About Medtronic

Medtronic, Inc. (www.medtronic.com), headquartered in Minneapolis, is the global leader in medical technology - alleviating pain, restoring health, and extending life for millions of people around the world.

Corporate Responsibility Magazine, CRO Association and CRO Summits

20,000-subscriber Corporate Responsibility Magazine (www.crmagazine.com) is publisher of the 11th annual 100 Best Corporate Citizens List, among America's three most-important business rankings according to PR Week. Over 200 large capitalization corporations and institutions are members of the Corporate Responsibility Officers Association (www.CROAssociation.org), representing 1,200+ individuals dedicated to increasing professionalization of corporate responsibility standards and practices.

SOURCE: Medtronic, Inc.

Medtronic Public Relations
Rich Fischer, 763-505-2975