Guest blog post by Patrick D. Gallagher, Commerce's Undersecretary of Standards and Technology and Director, National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)

That’s right. Rural America is also high tech. From the plains of the heartland to the cattle lands of the West and the rolling hills of farmlands in the East, our smaller communities are home to high-tech businesses that help expand U.S. exports and provide high-skilled, high-paying jobs.

Today, I was honored to take a tour of one such company, PRO-TEC Coating Co. in Leipsic, Ohio, population 2,093. The company employs about 250 people in a state-of-the-art facility surrounded by corn and soybean fields in the northwest corner of the state.  A joint venture between U.S. Steel Corporation and Kobe Steel Ltd. of Japan, PRO-TEC manufactures ultra high-strength coated steel, primarily for the auto industry.  The company is currently constructing an advanced $400 million continuous annealing processing line with an annual capacity of 500,000 tons that will expand its current capacity by 50 percent and create new manufacturing jobs.

Today, Vice President Biden and Secretary Locke presented the 2009 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award to five organizations honoring their organizational performance, excellence and innovation. Named after Malcolm Baldrige, the 26th Secretary of Commerce, the Baldrige Award was established by Congress in 1987 to enhance the competitiveness and performance of U.S. businesses.

The Baldrige Program:

• Raises awareness about the importance of performance excellence in driving the U.S. and global economy
• Provides organizational assessment tools and criteria
• Educates leaders in businesses, schools, health care organizations, and government and nonprofit agencies about the practices of best-in-class organizations
• Recognizes national role models and honors them with the only Presidential Award for performance excellence

Guest blog post by by Anthony J. Brancato III, President, Honeywell Federal Manufacturing & Technologies

Today is a great day for Honeywell Federal Manufacturing & Technologies. We are receiving the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award from Vice President Joe Biden and the Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke.

Several years ago, Honeywell was at a crossroads in our FM&T business. Declining budgets and aging infrastructure threatened our ability to be efficient and responsive to our customer. Today is a powerful illustration of how that scenario has changed for the better.