The New Jersey Business & Industry Association honored eight companies with an Award for Excellence at its annual Awards for Excellence Dinner on Tuesday, October 18, at the Westin Princeton at Forrestal Village.

The Awards for Excellence program recognizes employers for creating jobs, protecting the environment, being outstanding employers, and serving their communities.

“The winners were selected because they are the best of the best. They have succeeded not only as private sector companies, but in improving people’s lives and our communities,” NJBIA President Philip Kirschner said. “Good jobs give people opportunities for a better life for themselves and their families. Real environmental protection comes from private sector innovation, not public sector bureaucracy. And where would our communities be without the charitable work that businesses do throughout the year.”

The Enterprise Award winners, recognized for job creation, are:

• NRG Energy, Inc., Princeton—This diverse energy company chose Princeton for its dynamic new national headquarters, bringing 230 high paying jobs to New Jersey. Only 40 of those new jobs were transfers from the old headquarters in Minnesota, meaning NRG actually created 190 new jobs for New Jersey residents.

• Ranbaxy, Inc., Princeton—While the rest of the nation was struggling to recover from a recession between 2000 and 2004, Ranbaxy was embarking on a period of tremendous growth. The company more than doubled its workforce and nearly tripled its payroll during that time period.

The Environmental Quality Award winners, recognized for their environmental protection efforts, are:

• Mannington Mills, Inc., Salem—After years of painstaking research, Mannington Mills developed a series of water-based inks that drastically reduced harmful emissions to the air and reduced hazardous wastes in the manufacturing of its vinyl flooring.

• New Jersey American Water, Lawrenceville—During the installation of a 72-inch water main reinforcement pipe in the South Bound Brook area, American Water realized that it would have to cross a former asbestos dump. Although it could have easily bypassed the contaminated area and left it for someone else to deal with, the company decided to tackle the problem head on. Not only did they clean the site, they also created a children’s playground for the community.

The Outstanding Employer Award winners, recognized for superior human resources management, are:

• Lundbeck Research USA, Inc., Paramus—Employees at Lundbeck enjoy flex-time working arrangements, a medical leave policy that significantly exceeds the requirement of the Family Medical Leave Act and consumer discount programs at stores like BJ’s Wholesale Shopping Club and amusement parks like Universal Studios and Busch Gardens. Most importantly, health benefits are provided at no cost to employees.

• Trinitas Hospital, Elizabeth—To combat a chronic nursing shortage that is impacting all hospitals, Trinitas filmed TV spots featuring its own nurses discussing their working experiences and aired them on CNN, Lifetime, Home & Garden and The Learning Channel. The TV spots were supported by a direct mail campaign aimed at over 46,000 licensed registered nurses in the eight surrounding counties.

The Public Service Award winners, recognized for community service, are:

• Johnson & Johnson, New Brunswick—New Jersey Blood Services estimates that the company has saved the lives of thousands of people through its tireless efforts to encourage blood donations. In addition to direct donations from employees, retirees and employee-family members, the company provides a “fixed site” at the Ortho Clinical Diagnostics facility in Raritan for regular blood platelet donations.

• QualCare, Inc., Piscataway— As a vehicle for healthcare for more than 500,000 New Jersey residents, QualCare, Inc. knows firsthand how devastating breast cancer can be. Six years ago, the company made a serious commitment to raising money for breast cancer awareness, research and treatment programs. To date, its efforts have helped raise $3 million for New Jersey’s two leading cancer organizations.

An independent panel of judges reviewed the nominations. Eighteen members of the Service Corps of Retired Executives (SCORE) volunteered their time to conduct the judging. They were joined by four members of NJBIA’s policy committees: William Baney and Joann Trezza of the Human Resources Committee, and Tom Eckhoff and John Kinkela of the Environmental Quality Committee.

Mercadien P.C., Certified Public Accountants of Princeton, verified the information supplied by the winning applicants.

With more than 23,000 member companies, NJBIA is the largest state-level employer association in the country.