It’s time for the public to nominate its favorite community-centric corporations for Washington’s highest civics award.

Secretary of State Sam Reed has announced that his office will start accepting nominations Friday for a Corporations for Communities 2011 Award. Aug. 31 is the nomination deadline.

The Corporations for Communities program was launched in 2009 by Reed as a way to recognize exceptional Washington businesses that demonstrate a commitment to giving in order to improve local or regional social and environmental conditions.

“This is an opportunity to encourage standout corporations that are choosing to make their community a priority,” Reed said. “Particularly in these tough economic times, it’s important to cheer on businesses that are going above and beyond to make a difference in Washington.”

Each year, Reed selects one large and one small corporation from among the public nominations to receive a National Association of Secretaries of State Medallion, which is the highest civics honor awarded by the state.

Anyone is able to nominate businesses for this honor. Any sized for-profit corporation, Limited Liability Corporation (LLC), or Limited Partnership is eligible for this award. The nominee must be registered with the Office of the Secretary of State and be in compliance with state and federal laws.

Nomination forms are available on the Secretary of State’s website at www.sos.wa.gov/corps/corpsforcommunities.

Winners for the 2011 Awards cycle will be announced in September.

Last fall, GLY Construction in Bellevue and Dissmore’s Foods in Pullman were picked from a statewide pool of nominees as Corporations for Communities 2010 Fall Award recipients.

For more information about the Corporations for Communities program, contact program coordinator Patrick Reed at 360-725-0358 or patrick.reed@sos.wa.gov.