Commerce Secretary Bryson Presents Baldrige Award to 11 Organizations

On April 15, 2012, U.S. Commerce Department Secretary John Bryson presented 11 U.S. organizations with the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, the nation's highest honor for organizational innovation and performance excellence.

The ceremony—the 23rd in the history of the Award—honored the 2010 and 2011 recipients, listed with their category below:

2010

• MEDRAD (a division of Bayer Healthcare), Warrendale, Pa. (manufacturing)
• Nestlé Purina PetCare Co., St. Louis, Mo. (manufacturing)
• Freese and Nichols Inc., Fort Worth, Texas (small business)
• K&N Management, Austin, Texas (small business)
• Studer Group, Gulf Breeze, Fla. (small business)
• Montgomery County Public Schools, Rockville, Md. (education)
• Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital, Downers Grove, Ill. (healthcare)

2011

• Concordia Publishing, St. Louis, Mo. (nonprofit)
• Henry Ford Health System, Detroit, Mich. (healthcare)
• Schneck Medical Center, Seymour, Ind. (healthcare)
• Southcentral Foundation, Anchorage, Alaska (healthcare)

The Baldrige Award recognizes role models for organizational excellence—organizations that not only provide outstanding products and customer service, but also do so with ethical, transparent and accountable leadership, empowerment of employees and strong support to their local communities. Since it was first presented in 1988, the Baldrige Award—and the Baldrige Performance Excellence Program of which it is part—have grown in stature and impact. The Baldrige Program, the Award’s criteria for performance excellence and the Baldrige Award recipients are imitated and admired worldwide.

The Baldrige Award and the Baldrige Performance Excellence Program are managed by the Commerce Department’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in conjunction with the private sector. For further information, go to http://www.nist.gov/baldrige.

MEDRAD: Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology and NIST Director Patrick Gallagher; Commerce Secretary John Bryson; Samuel Liang, President and CEO; Rose Almon-Martin, VP of Performance Excellence and Brand; Baldrige Foundation Chair Debbie Collard - Credit: Peter Cutts/NIST	Nestlé Purina PetCare Company: Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology and NIST Director Patrick Gallagher; Commerce Secretary John Bryson; John McGinty, VP, Customer Development Group; Kenneth Dean, Director, Quality Systems; Baldrige Foundation Chair Debbie Collard - Credit: Peter Cutts/NIST
Freese and Nichols: Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology and NIST Director Patrick Gallagher; Commerce Secretary John Bryson; Robert Pence, CEO; Cindy Milrany, CAO/CFO; Baldrige Foundation Chair Debbie Collard - Credit: Peter Cutts/NIST	K&N Management: Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology and NIST Director Patrick Gallagher; Commerce Secretary John Bryson; Ken Schiller, Owner; Allyson Young, Human Resources and Brand Director; Baldrige Foundation Chair Debbie Collard - Credit: Peter Cutts/NIST
Studer Group: Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology and NIST Director Patrick Gallagher; Commerce Secretary John Bryson; BG Porter, President and CEO; Debbie Cardello, Performance Excellence Coach; Baldrige Foundation Chair Debbie Collard - Credit: Peter Cutts/NIST	Montgomery County Public Schools: Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology and NIST Director Patrick Gallagher; Commerce Secretary John Bryson; Christopher Barclay, VP, Montgomery County Board of Education; Joshua Starr, Superintendent of Schools; Baldrige Foundation Chair Debbie Collard - Credit: Peter Cutts/NIST
Advocate Good Samaritan Hospital: Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology and NIST Director Patrick Gallagher; Commerce Secretary John Bryson; David Fox, President; Patricia Skriba, VP, Learning/Organizational Effectiveness; Baldrige Foundation Chair Debbie Collard - Credit: Peter Cutts/NIST	Concordia Publishing House: Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology and NIST Director Patrick Gallagher; Commerce Secretary John Bryson; Bruce Kintz, President and COO; Jonathan Schultz, VP and Corporate Counsel; Baldrige Foundation Chair Debbie Collard - Credit: Peter Cutts/NIST
Henry Ford Health System: Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology and NIST Director Patrick Gallagher; Commerce Secretary John Bryson; Nancy Schlichting, CEO; Robert Riney, President and COO; Baldrige Foundation Chair Debbie Collard - Credit: Peter Cutts/NIST	Schneck Medical Center: Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology and NIST Director Patrick Gallagher; Commerce Secretary John Bryson; Gary Meyer, President and CEO; Tammy Dye, VP of Clinical Services and Chief Quality Officer; Baldrige Foundation Chair Debbie Collard - Credit: Peter Cutts/NIST
Southcentral Foundation: Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology and NIST Director Patrick Gallagher; Commerce Secretary John Bryson; Katherine Gottlieb, President and CEO; James Segura, Chair, Board of Directors; Baldrige Foundation Chair Debbie Collard - Credit: Peter Cutts/NIST