Small business topped the trust chart in a new 2009 Civic Health Index, which was discussed at the 2009 National Conference on Citizenship in Washington, D.C. 
 
More Americans trust small business than the scientific community, organized religion, and education institutions.
 
The conference dialogue also dove into innovation and how innovative businesses are helping communities and individuals weather the tough economic storm. 
 
IBM, Target, Google, Facebook, Salesforce, Cisco, and pharmaceutical companies all received accolades from the social innovation panel, which included moderator Jean Case (Case Foundation), and panelists Sonal Shah (White House Office of Social Innovation), Barbara Bush (Global Health Corps),  Justin Rockefeller (Uhuru Capital Management), and Diana Wells (Ashoka).

Businesses large and small are often civic engines in communities across the country and around the globe, and these businesses were particularly singled-out as innovators.