ASQ Honors Baldrige Recipients

Milwaukee, Wisconsin, April 17, 2006 – The American Society for Quality (ASQ) will join the 2005 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award recipients, including ASQ members Richland College, Dallas, Texas; Sunny Fresh Foods, Monticello, Minnesota; and DynMcDermott, New Orleans, La., at an awards presentation Wednesday, April 19, 2006, at the Hilton Washington, 1919 N. Connecticut Ave, NW, Washington, D.C. Vice President Dick Cheney will present the awards to the recognized organizations during the ceremony, which begins at 3:00 p.m.

ASQ is the world’s leading authority on quality and an expert in standards development, and has been the sole administrator of the prestigious Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award since 1991.

Since 1988 the U.S. Department of Commerce's National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has managed the Baldrige program. The Baldrige Award has recognized organizations that have achieved the highest level of quality improvement and performance excellence. The award has spearheaded quality efforts leading to improved operations within the manufacturing, small business, service, education, and healthcare categories.

“These organizations represent the highest ideals in terms of successfully applying the principles of quality improvement and the Baldrige Framework for Performance Excellence,” said Duhan. “For-profits, nonprofits, and the government sector can attain better results for their customers, clients, and constituents by following the example of this year’s honorees.”

This year’s recipients include:

• Sunny Fresh Foods, Inc. (SFF), Monticello, Minnesota. Manufacturer of value-added egg-based food products primarily for the food service industry. SFF produces over 160 products and has more than 2,000 customers, including quick service restaurants, schools, healthcare organizations, and the military.
• DynMcDermott Petroleum Operations Company (DM), New Orleans, Louisiana. The sole management and operations contractor for the Department of Energy’s Strategic Petroleum Reserve – the United States’ emergency oil stockpile – the largest emergency petroleum supply in the world.
• Park Place Lexus, Dallas, Texas. A dealer of new Lexus vehicles and pre-owned luxury vehicles. The business services Lexus and other vehicles, and sells Lexus parts to the wholesale and retail markets.
• Richland College, Dallas, Texas. One of seven two-year community colleges in the Dallas County Community College District. Their key student segment is transfer students, whose primary goal is further education at a four-year university. 
• Jenks Public Schools, Jenks, Oklahoma Serves both suburban and urban populations. JPS programs and services include an intergenerational program with pre-kindergarten and kindergarten students and the elderly, a “Parents as Teachers Program” and a student and teacher exchange program with a school in Chengdu, China.
• Bronson Methodist Hospital, Kalamazoo, Michigan A tertiary medical center providing inpatient and outpatient care in virtually every specialty. Bronson is the only high-risk pregnancy center in southwest Michigan, and in pediatrics as one of only four children’s hospitals in the state.

The American Society for Quality www.asq.org has been the world's leading authority on quality for 60 years. With more than 90,000 individual and organizational members, the professional association advances learning, quality improvement, and knowledge exchange to improve business results, and to create better workplaces and communities worldwide. As champion of the quality movement, ASQ offers technologies, concepts, tools, and training to quality professionals, quality practitioners, and everyday consumers, encouraging all to Make Good Great®. ASQ has been the sole administrator of the prestigious Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award since 1991.  Headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the 60-year-old organization is a founding partner of the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), a prominent quarterly economic indicator, and also produces the Quarterly Quality Report.