President Bush to Personally Recognize Baldrige Award Recipients

Milwaukee, April 4, 2008 — President George W. Bush will personally recognize the latest recipients of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. ASQ President Mike Nichols announced today that he received word of the President’s participation.

The President plans to recognize the 2007 Baldrige Award recipients in a private event at the White House on April 23. Immediately following the president’s reception, the five recipients will receive their awards from Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez in a ceremony held in conjunction with the Baldrige program’s annual Quest for Excellence Conference.

“We consider this good news and a big win for ASQ, since we have been working for several months to ensure that the President would play an active role in recognizing the most recent Baldrige winners,” Nichols said.

ASQ conducted a grassroots campaign among members and other Baldrige supporters to send letters to the White House encouraging the President to personally play a role in the Baldrige Award presentations. The letters pointed out that the President had delegated this role to the Vice President for four of the last five years, and the President’s participation was necessary to uphold the prestige of the award.

Nichols thanked the many ASQ members and other Baldrige supporters who took the time to send a letter to the White House.

Five organizations are recipients of the 2007 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, the nation’s highest honor for organizational performance excellence. With these new recipients, the program celebrates its 20th anniversary. And for the first time in the history of the Baldrige Award, nonprofit organizations have been selected.

The 2007 Baldrige Award recipients—listed with their category—are:

• PRO-TEC Coating Co., Leipsic, Ohio (Small Business)
• Mercy Health System, Janesville, Wisc. (Health Care)
• Sharp HealthCare, San Diego, Calif. (Health Care)
• City of Coral Springs, Coral Springs, Fla. (Nonprofit)
• U.S. Army Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center (ARDEC), Picatinny Arsenal, N.J. (Nonprofit)

ASQ has been involved with the Baldrige Award since its inception in 1988, and has been the sole administrator of the award since 1991.