For Immediate Release
ASQ Advocacy Efforts Result in Presidential Recognition
President Bush to Honor Baldrige Recipients at White House Event
Milwaukee, Wis., April 8, 2008—President George W. Bush plans to personally recognize the recipients of the 2007 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, the nation’s highest presidential honor for organizational performance excellence, at a private reception in the White House on Wednesday, April 23rd.
Immediately following the reception, the five recipients will be presented their awards by Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez in a ceremony being held at the Washington Hilton in conjunction with the Baldrige program’s annual Quest for Excellence Conference.
President Bush’s personal appearance is the result of a grassroots letter-writing campaign conducted since December 2007 by American Society for Quality (ASQ) members and other Baldrige supporters to encourage the president to play an active role in Baldrige Award presentations. ASQ pointed out in letters to the president that his participation was crucial to uphold the prestige of the award — especially since President Bush has designated this role to Vice President Cheney for four out of the last five years.
“We are so pleased that the president will once again be personally involved in recognizing the accomplishments of the Baldrige recipients, lending the appropriate dignity and stature of the office to the nation’s highest quality award,” said ASQ President Mike Nichols. ASQ has been the sole administrator of the Baldrige Award since 1991.
The 2007 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award celebrates its 20th anniversary this year and for the first time in its history has named nonprofit organizations among its recipients. The five winners are:
- PRO-TEC Coating Co., Leipsic, Ohio (small business)
- Mercy Health System, Janesville, Wisc. (healthcare)
- Sharp HealthCare, San Diego, Calif. (healthcare)
- City of Coral Springs, Coral Springs, Fla. (nonprofit)
- U.S. Army Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center (ARDEC), Picatinny Arsenal, N.J. (nonprofit)
The Baldrige Award was established by Congress in 1987 to enhance the competitiveness and performance of U.S. businesses. The award promotes excellence in organizational performance, recognizes the achievements and results of U.S. organizations and publicizes successful performance strategies. Since 1988, 72 organizations have received Baldrige Awards.
The American Society for Quality, www.asq.org, has been the world’s leading authority on quality for more than 60 years. With more than 93,000 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®. Headquartered in Milwaukee, Wis., ASQ is a founding partner of the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), a prominent quarterly economic indicator, and also produces the Quarterly Quality Report.
