Three Iowa companies have made the 2012 InformationWeek 250, an annual listing of the nation’s most innovative users of business technology.

Principal Financial Group Inc. was No. 159 on the list; Cedar Rapids-based CRST International Inc was No. 211; and Grinnell Mutual Reinsurance Co. was No. 214. Iowa Health Systems made the InformationWeek 500.

The rating has for 24 years recognized the most innovative users of business technology, said InformationWeek Editor in Chief Rob Preston.

“What the editors looked for are unconventional approaches– new technologies, new models, new ways of grabbing business opportunities and solving complex business problems with IT,” he said.