Three major corporations operating in St. Lawrence County have earned the praise of the Human Rights Campaign Foundation, the nation’s largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) civil rights organization.

Alcoa, Inc., in Massena; Corning, Inc., in Canton; and Time-Warner Cable, which serves the entire county, all scored 100 on the 2016 HRCF “corporate equality index,” a measure of an organization’s LGBT inclusion in the business, and earning those organizations a place on the list of “Best Places to Work for LGBT Equality.”

Morgan Stanley, which has an office in Potsdam, and PepsiCo, which has a franchise bottling operation in Ogdensburg, were also rated at 100 percent.

Also on the list are two businesses operating countywide, Verizon Communications, Inc., scoring 85, and National Grid USA scoring 80.

Firms ranking high on the "corporate equality index" provide LGBT workers "the vital non-discrimination protections they deserve," according to the Human Rights Campaign Foundation.

The companies also have "a global non-discrimination policy or code of conduct that specifically prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity."

In New York State, 148 organizations rating inclusion on the list. The average score for companies and law firms based in New York is 91 percent.

Of the 148 companies ranked, 89 earned 100 percent, 16 earned 90 percent or above, and 21 earned 80 percent or above.