WASHINGTON, March 1, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- The Women's Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC) today announced its 14th annual listing of America's Top Corporations for Women's Business Enterprises, the only national award honoring corporations for world class programs that level the playing field for women's business enterprises (WBEs) to compete for corporate business.  This year WBENC recognizes 32 corporations for developing and driving best practices across their organizations that result in productive business partnerships with women entrepreneurs and valuable products and services for their customers. 

"Thanks to the extraordinary leadership of our Top Corporations, women's businesses are generating strategies and solutions for meeting the fast-changing needs of today's marketplace.  Together they are driving the innovation that fuels a stronger economy and creates jobs," said Pamela Prince-Eason, President and CEO of WBENC, the leading authority on and advocate for WBEs as suppliers to the nation's leading corporations and government entities. 

The Top Corporations will be honored at the WBENC Summit & Salute to Women's Business Enterprises taking place March 13-14 in Baltimore, MD. The event will showcase their top executives on mission-critical issues before an audience of over 1,000 C-suite and senior executives of WBENC Corporate and Government Members, WBEs, WBENC's Regional Partner Organizations (RPOs), and other stakeholders in the women's and diverse business community.

Under the banner of the organization's 2013 theme "Join Forces. Succeed Together." WBENC's Summit & Salute is a major national event designed to drive business development and collaborative success among WBENC's Corporate and Government Members and WBEs. Sponsored by Accenture and Ernst & Young LLP, the Summit & Salute provides vital access to the business intelligence and senior-level networking opportunities that enable sustainable growth.  

"Our Top Corporations are deeply committed to strategic business development programs that cultivate competition and achieve measurable results," Prince-Eason added. "This event will share their thought leadership with our entire community of partners and constituents."

WBENC's 2012 Top Corporations for Women Business Enterprises:

Accenture
Alcatel-Lucent
AT&T
Avis Budget Group, Inc.
Bank of America
BP America Inc.
Chevron
Chrysler Group LLC
Dell Inc
Energy Future Holdings
Ernst & Young LLP
Exxon Mobil Corporation
Ford Motor Company
General Motors Company
IBM
Johnson & Johnson
Kelly Services, Inc.
Macy's, Inc.
ManpowerGroup
Marriott International, Inc.
Office Depot
Pacific Gas and Electric Company
PepsiCo, Inc.
Pfizer Inc.
Pitney Bowes Inc.
Shell
Target Corporation
The Coca-Cola Company
United Airlines
UPS
Verizon Communications Inc.
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.

AT&T¹, Energy Future Holdings², and UPS, and including all predecessor companies, have been recognized by WBENC every year since the award was created 14 years ago.  Avis Budget Group, Inc. and Chevron, including all predecessor companies, have each won the award 13 times. PepsiCo, Inc. has won 12 times. Bank of America, Office Depot and Shell have won 11 times. IBM has won 10 times. Pfizer and Verizon Communications Inc. have won nine times. Exxon Mobil Corporation, Johnson & Johnson and The Coca-Cola Company have been on the list seven times. Alcatel-Lucent has won six times. Accenture, Dell Inc, and ManpowerGroup have been on the list five times. Ernst & Young LLP is four years on the list. Kelly Services, Inc. and Marriott International, Inc. have won three times. BP America Inc., Ford Motor Company, Pitney Bowes Inc., Pacific Gas and Electric Company, Target Corporation, and United Airlines have won two times.

WBENC welcomes Chrysler Group LLC; General Motors Company; Macy's, Inc., and Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. to the list of WBENC's Top Corporations for WBEs.

www.wbenc.org.

¹ AT&T Inc., formerly SBC Communications Inc., has won this award every year since its inception.  AT&T Corp, which was acquired by SBC in late 2005, also was a multiyear winner.  BellSouth Corporation, acquired by AT&T Inc. in late 2006, has also won the award in past years.
²  Formerly TXU Corp.

SOURCE Women's Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC)