Dow Ranks One of America’s ’100 Best Corporate Citizens’

Corporate Responsibility Officer (CRO) Magazine has named The Dow Chemical Company one of America’s “100 Best Corporate Citizens” of 2008. This is the first time in the Awards’ nine-year history that Dow has made the list, securing a place in the top 15 and ranking ahead of all other chemical companies.

“This is a remarkable achievement,” said Andrew Liveris, Dow’s chairman and chief executive officer. “To be recognized as one of the leading corporate citizens in the United States is a tribute to every one of our 46,000 people – our Human Element – and speaks volumes to the progress we have made towards our vision of being the largest, most profitable, most respected chemical company in the world.”

To compile the list, CRO commissioned IW Financial, the country’s leading consultancy in environment, social and governance ratings, to assess more than 1,000 U.S.-headquartered companies against eight dimensions of corporate citizenship. For each of the categories – climate change, employee relations, environment, financial, governance, human rights, lobbying and philanthropy – companies were evaluated using a variety of sources and assigned a score to reflect their performance. The final rankings were determined using a weighted average of the eight categories.

“Our commitment to Set the Standard for Sustainability demands leading as a corporate citizen,” said Dave Kepler, Dow’s chief sustainability officer. “Sustainability connects to the conscience of our company, and goes beyond as a platform for business growth and innovation.”

This recognition follows several other accolades received by Dow that reflect its commitment to corporate citizenship around the globe, including:

* Dow was recently recognized as one of the most socially responsible global companies in China, or “the multinational company with the most caring Chinese heart,” by the Foreign Investment in China Magazine under the Ministry of Commerce.

* In September 2007, Dow was once again rated one of the top performers in the global chemical industry by the 2007 Dow Jones Sustainability World Index (DJSI World). Dow’s 2015 Sustainability Goals were deemed a key factor in this recognition.

* In December 2007, the Whitehead School of Diplomacy and International Relations – a school of Seton Hall University – awarded Andrew Liveris and the people of Dow its annual global citizenship award, citing Dow’s leadership in the area of climate change and sustainable development.

* During 2007, Dow once again received the highest rating possible for its standards of corporate governance from GovernanceMetrics International (GMI).

For more details about CRO’s “100 Best Corporate Citizens 2008,” the methodology and CRO magazine, please visit www.thecro.com.