White House Statement—2000 Baldrige Awards

THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary

The President today announced the winners of the 2000 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. Four organizations-Dana Corporation-Spicer Driveshaft Division, Toledo, Ohio (manufacturing); KARLEE Company, Inc., Garland, Texas (manufacturing); Operations Management International, Inc., Greenwood Village, Colo. (service); and Los Alamos National Bank, Los Alamos, N.M. (small business)-are being honored for their achievements in performance excellence.

"The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award recognizes organizations that play a major role in energizing our Nation's economy, competitiveness and quality of life. With their dedication to excellence, these Baldrige Award recipients remind us that just keeping pace is not enough. These award winners can serve as role models for any organization that wants to keep growing and moving forward," the President said.

"Although no Baldrige Award recipients were named in the new education and health care categories, I am delighted that the same focus on efficiency, empowerment and excellence that brought us corporate recipients is now helping to strengthen our education and health care systems," said the President.

The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award was established by Congress in 1987 to enhance the competitiveness of U.S. businesses by promoting quality awareness, recognizing the quality and performance achievements of U.S. organizations, and publicizing successful performance strategies. The program is managed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, an agency of the Commerce Department's Technology Administration, in conjunction with the private sector. Screening of applications for the Baldrige Award is conducted by a mostly private-sector board of experts.