ASTD Announces 39 Winners in its Seventh Annual “BEST Awards”

Home announces that 39 organizations from Canada, Hong Kong, India, Singapore, and the United States are winners in the 2009 ASTD BEST Awards competition. Sun Microsystems, of Santa Clara, California, holds the first place ranking. The 2009 ASTD BEST Award winners are recognized in a special section of the October issue of Training + Development (T+D), ASTD's monthly magazine, and were honored during a reception on October 1 in Washington, D.C. Many of the winners participated in the "Learn from the BEST" event on October 2 to share best practices during roundtable presentations and networking time.

The BEST Awards recognize organizations that demonstrate enterprise-wide success through employee learning and development. According to Tony Bingham, ASTD's president and CEO, "The ASTD BEST Award winners set the standard of excellence for exceptional learning practices, and demonstrate that a skilled workforce is vital to achieving results. They use learning as a strategic tool and have the support of senior leaders who champion a learning culture."

Through an online application, the 2009 BEST Awards received entries from 93 organizations in 10 countries. These organizations submitted quantitative and qualitative information to ASTD about their learning and development practices and programs. Their applications were assessed by members of the BEST Awards advisory committee, a group of experts in the learning and development field.

More information about the 2009 ASTD BEST Award winners may be found in the October 2009 issue of T+D magazine and online. ASTD would like to thank the following sponsors of the 2009 BEST Awards: Platinum Sponsor: Booz Allen Hamilton; Silver Sponsors: General Physics Corporation, Learn.com, and SkillSoft.

**The 2009 ASTD BEST Award winners and rankings:

**

1. Sun Microsystems, Santa Clara, California

2. MTR Corporation, Hong Kong, SAR, China

3. SCC Soft Computer, Clearwater, Florida

4. DPR Construction, Inc., Redwood City, California

5. BB&T, Winston-Salem, North Carolina

6. VF Asia Limited, Hong Kong, SAR, China

7. Highmark (an independent licensee of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association), Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

8. BJC HealthCare, St. Louis, Missouri

9. Datatel, Fairfax, Virginia

10. Trust Company of the West, Los Angeles, California

11. Luxottica Retail North America, Mason, Ohio

12. La Quinta, Irving, Texas

13. Robert W. Baird & Company, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

14. Gables Residential, Atlanta, Georgia

15. Wipro Limited, Bangalore, India

16. T. Rowe Price, Baltimore, Maryland

17. LarsonAllen, Minneapolis, Minnesota

18. University Health System, San Antonio, Texas

19. CSC, Falls Church, Virginia

20. Reliance Industries Limited, Jamnagar Refinery Division, Mumbai, India

21. Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, New York, New York

22. Infosys Technologies Limited, Bangalore, India

23. Reliance Industries Limited, Dahej Manufacturing Division, Mumbai, India

24. CIGNA Corporation, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

25. Suzlon Energy, Ltd., Pune, India

26. Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited, Mumbai, India

27. Prescription Solutions, Irvine, California

28. Whirlpool Corporation, Saint Joseph, Michigan

29. Barilla America, Inc., Bannockburn, Illinois

30. Fallon Clinic, Worcester, Massachusetts

31. InterContinental Hotels Group, Atlanta, Georgia

32. Mayer Electric Supply Company Inc., Birmingham, Alabama

33. TELUS, Vancouver, British Columbia

34. G4S Wackenhut, Palm Beach Gardens, Florida

35. sanofi-aventis U.S., Bridgewater, New Jersey

36. Brown-Forman Corporation, Louisville, Kentucky

37. United Overseas Bank, Singapore

38. Grant Thornton LLP, Chicago, Illinois

39. Cbeyond, Atlanta, Georgia

In addition, nine companies on this list have been BEST ASTD Award winners for three years or more. They are: BB&T, CSC, Gables Residential, Infosys Technologies, MTR Corporation, Reliance Industries, sanofi-aventis U.S., TELUS, and Wipro Limited.