13 Maryland Employers Best For Diversity In 2019: Forbes

MARYLAND — Two school districts, a renowned university and two hotel chains lead Maryland's list of most diverse employers, according to the newest list from Forbes. A Colorado metal packaging company made its debut on Forbes’ list of the best employers for diversity in 2019 and claimed the No.1 spot. The rankings are Forbes’ second edition of the annual list.

Forbes partnered with Statista, a market research company, to compile the rankings. The magazine says 50,000 Americans working for businesses with at least 1,000 employees were surveyed to come up with the final rankings and 13 Maryland companies made the list.

The No. 1 company on the list is Ball, a 139-year-old business located in Broomfield, Colorado.

The Maryland employers that made Forbes’ list in 2019 — with their rank, specialty and headquarters — are:

• No. 27 Marriott International, Travel & Leisure, Bethesda
• No. 60 Howard County Public Schools, Education, Ellicott City
• No. 130 Choice Hotels International, Travel & Leisure, Rockville
• No. 151 Montgomery County Public Schools, Education, Rockville
• No. 176 Johns Hopkins Medicine, Healthcare & Social, Baltimore
• No. 209 Discovery, Media & Advertising, Silver Spring
• No. 240 CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield, Insurance, Baltimore
• No. 279 Westat, Professional Services, Rockville
• No. 300 Johns Hopkins University, Education, Baltimore
• No. 313 Geico Auto Insurance, Insurance, Chevy Chase
• No. 333 Royal Farms, Retail and Wholesale, Baltimore
• No. 395 Perdue Farms, Food, Soft Beverages, Alcohol & Tobacco, Salisbury
• No. 438 Allegis Group, Business Services & Supplies, Hanover

According to Forbes, the top 10 employers for diversity in the country are:

• Ball (Containers and packaging), Broomfield, Colorado (1)
• Nielsen (Professional Services), New York, New York (2)
• BlueCross BlueShied of Tennessee (Insurance), Chattanooga, Tennessee (3)
• Kent State University Kent Campus (Education), Kent, Ohio (4)
• Vertex Pharmaceuticals (Drugs & Technology), Boston, Massachusetts (5)
• Netflix (Media & Advertising), Los Gatos, California (6)
• University of California, Irvine (Education), Irvine, California (7)
• Penguin Random House (Media & Advertising), New York, New York (8)
• SAP (IT, Internet, Software & Services), Newtown Square, Pennsylvania (9)
• Visa (Banking and Financial Services), Foster City, California (10)

Writing about Ball, Forbes said that the company’s “commitment to diversity and inclusion starts at the very top.” The company has nine employee resource groups that represent diverse and minority populations. These groups host events to advance their respective missions, Forbes writes. The company has a host of other initiatives that it employs to promote diversity and inclusion. (You can read more about it on Forbes.)

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