We earned a variety of recognitions and awards in 2017. These reinforce the progress we have made and encourage us to do even better. 2017 Indexes and Rankings No. 31on the U.S. 500 Newsweek Green Rankings No. 1on Fortune's World's Most Admired Companies in the chemicals sector No. 129on Wall Street Journal's Management Top 250 No. 350on Forbes' Americas Best Employers list No. 717on Forbes' Global 2000 No. 182on Barron's 500 No. 4on the ICIS Chemical Business Magazine's Top 100 Regional Leaders list No. 19on the ICIS Chemical Business Magazine's Top 100 Chemical Companies list No. 72on IndustryWeek's U.S. 500 list No. 1on Coatings World's Top 100 Company list Corporate Social Responsibility Recognition Perfect score on 2018 Corporate Equality Index PPG received a perfect score of 100 percent on the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s 2018 Corporate Equality Index (CEI), a national benchmarking survey and report on corporate policies and practices related to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) workplace equality. Our efforts in satisfying all of CEI’s criteria resulted in the designation as a Best Place to Work for LGBTQ Equality. PPG recognized by Forbes magazine as one of America’s Best Large Employers Forbes magazine named PPG one its 2017 America's Best Large Employers. This was the second consecutive year Forbes recognized us among the 500 most highly regarded employers in America, based on independent research findings. PPG honored for responsible care in China The Association of International Chemical Manufacturers (AICM) honored PPG with a Chairman’s Award for excellence in responsible care practices in China. The award recognizes companies that have demonstrated leadership, innovation and achievements that benefit the public and enhance environment, health, safety and corporate social responsibility practices in the China chemical and coatings industry. Award recognizes PPG as a good neighbor The United Way honored PPG with its 2017 Fred Rogers Award for exemplary community volunteerism related to our COLORFUL COMMUNITIES™ program and annual Day of Caring. A major reason we were selected, in addition to our community engagement programming, is because of our engagement of young professionals and the impact we have had on local neighborhoods in need. Product & Process Awards R&D 100 awards honor PPG products Two of our technologies earned 2017 R&D 100 awards in the mechanical devices/materials category. Our Premium Compact Process Primer and LIQUID NAILS® FUZE*IT® All Surface adhesive received top marks according to judges for the 55th annual awards. Our family of non-chrome corrosion inhibitive aerospace sealants received an R&D Special Recognition Award, while our ENVIROCRON® Extreme Protection powder coating system and AUDIOGUARD® polymer damping material technology were also nominated as finalists in the Mechanical devices/materials category. PPG earns Metal of Honor supplier recognition PPG was named a Metal of Honor winner by Metal Roofing magazine after readers selected us as one of the top industry suppliers of 2016. In an annual survey of the magazine’s 26,000 readers, respondents ranked PPG in the top 10 percent of companies that provide products and services within the metal roofing supply chain. COMEX brand receives National Technology and Innovation Award VINIMEX® Total paint from our COMEX® brand earned a National Technology and Innovation Award (PNTI) in the marketing category. PNTI, which is the highest award granted by the government of Mexico, recognizes national companies and organizations that have used technology and innovation successfully to increase their competitiveness. Consumers’ Choice in Belgium Consumers in Belgium overwhelmingly chose Histor chalk paint as its 2017 Best Product of the Year in a popular national competition. Earning the most votes in the paint category, Histor and its chalk paint will carry the Best Product crown for the next year. Ohio locations earn five Awards for Excellence The Ohio Chemistry Technology Council bestowed five 2017 Awards for Excellence on four of our facilities in the state. Recognized initiatives included safety action teams, a project to reduce landfilled bio sludge and sustainable energy reduction. Customer Awards Safran awards PPG aerospace e-coat primer Our AEROCRON™ electrocoat aerospace primer earned recognition in the supplier category of the 2017 Safran Innovation Awards, including first-place honors from Safran Nacelles and second place from parent company Safran. Each year, the 10 companies comprising Safran select the most promising initiatives from their employees, partners and suppliers to receive Innovation Awards. Winners then go on to compete for Safran honors. PPG earns John Deere awards John Deere named PPG its Supplier of the Year and a Partner-level supplier in the John Deere Achieving Excellence Program for 2016. Partner-level status is Deere & Company’s highest supplier rating. We also received the company’s Supplier Innovation Award, which is presented annually to select John Deere suppliers who have demonstrated innovation in a product or service they provide. We earned the innovation honor by developing SPECTRACRON® ADVANTEDGE™ HPP primer. Tianjin location earns Excellent Supplier award Our Automotive OEM coatings business in Tianjin, China, earned the 2016 Excellent Supplier award from Yanfeng Group, China’s leading automotive component manufacturer. The award was granted for our achievements in quality, development and supply.