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Valspar Corporation Added to the KLD Domini 400
Socialsm Index
BOSTON,
MA - July 16, 2003 - KLD Research & Analytics,
Inc., an independent research firm, announced today
that Valspar Corporation [VAL] has been added to
the KLD Domini 400 Socialsm Index. Valspar Corporation
is headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Valspar
Corporation manufactures paint and coatings for
equipment manufacturers, architectural uses, and
packaging. The company also produces coatings for
coil and mirror, automotive-refinishing, and building
applications.
Reasons KLD added the company to the DS 400 Index
KLD added the company to the DS 400 Index for several
reasons, including:
- Valspar
manufactures several environmentally beneficial
products, including electro-deposition coating
(E-coating). E-coat products have environmental
benefits in that they emit little or no volatile
organic compounds (VOCs), contain no heavy metals
or hazardous emissions, and are water-based and
solvent-free. E-coats also reduce the amount of
paint used and eliminate much of the cleanup involved
in spray painting.
- The
company has been recognized for its safety initiatives.
Valspar's Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania facility received
a Star certification under the federal Occupational
Safety and Health Administration's (OSHA) Voluntary
Protection Program (VPP). The Star certification
is the highest award under the VPP and requires,
among other things, that the facility have critical
safety management systems that go beyond OSHA
requirements, a strong employee training component,
and injury and illness rates that are below the
national average for that industry.
- Since
1987, Valspar has donated paint, painting supplies,
and employee time to community "paint-a-thons"
in cities and towns where the company has operations.
The company was among the first participants in
the program, which involves painting the outside
of homes occupied by those who cannot pay for
or physically perform the work themselves. In
addition Valspar works with Habitat for Humanity,
an affordable housing development program.
About the KLD Family of Indexes
The Domini 400 SocialSM Index (DS 400 Index) is
the established benchmark for measuring the impact
of social screening on financial performance. Launched
in May 1990, the DS 400 Index is the first benchmark
for equity portfolios subject to multiple social
screens. The index consists of 400 diversified equities
that pass a broad range of social screening criteria.
The KLD Broad Market Socialsm Index (KLD BMS Index)
is the screened subset of the Russell 3000®
Index, and the KLD Large Cap Socialsm Index (KLD
LCS Index) is the screened subset of the Russell
1000® Index, both of which were launched on
January 1, 2001.
About KLD Research & Analytics, Inc.
KLD Research & Analytics, Inc. is an independent
research firm providing investment management tools
that are used by professionals to serve clients
who require investment strategies based on social
responsibility, responsive governance and corporate
integrity. KLD products and services, including
Socrates (a web-based, company research tool)
are used for screening, compliance and asset gathering.
For
more information about KLD or the KLD Domini 400
Social Index, please see our website (www.kld.com)
or contact Karen Agredo by phone (617.426.5270)
or via e-mail (kagredo@kld.com).
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