FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Iowa Quality Center Announces Recipients of
Iowa Recognition for Performance Excellence Awards
December 14, 2012 – Marion, IA
The Iowa Quality Center and the Iowa Recognition for Performance Excellence Executive Council announce eight winners of the Iowa Recognition for Performance Excellence (IRPE) Awards. Recipients will be honored at the Governor’s Celebration of Excellence on May 2, 2013 at the Meadows Conference Center in Altoona.
The IRPE is one of 39 state award programs aligned with the National Baldrige Performance Excellence Program. In the 1980's, then-Secretary of Commerce Malcolm Baldrige was an advocate of quality management as a key to U.S. prosperity and sustainability. After he died in a rodeo accident in July 1987, Congress named the Award in recognition of his contributions.
Congress created the award program to identify and recognize role-model businesses, establish criteria for evaluating improvement efforts and disseminate and share best practices.
The Iowa Quality Center has administered the IRPE since 2000. This year, the IRPE process involved 57 volunteer examiners from all sectors of business, using the Baldrige Criteria. Applicants were scored based on their application and an examiner site visit. Examiners looked for systematic processes and results in the areas of: leadership, strategic planning, customer focus, workforce focus, operations focus, measurement analysis, knowledge management and results.
-The following winners are announced at three different IRPE levels (signifying total points scored for the application and visit):
Tier 1 Commitment Level:
Iowa Donor Network, North Liberty and Johnston, Iowa
Iowa Donor Network is a small non-profit organization operating as the primary contact for organ, tissue and eye donation services in Iowa. They employ 85 and serve more than 10,000 Iowans a year.
Tier 3 Leadership Level:
Davenport Hospital Ambulance Corp; MEDIC EMS, Davenport Iowa
MEDIC EMS is a not-for-profit organization serving a population base of 175,000 people. They provide 911 coverage for 456 square miles within the Midwestern Iowa-Illinois region. MEDIC EMS has 81 full-time employees.
Lennox Industries Inc., Marshalltown, Iowa
Lennox Industries employs 890 individuals and is a subsidiary of Lennox International Inc., a leading provider of climate control solutions for heating, air conditioning, and refrigeration markets around the world.
Iowa Valley Community College District, Marshalltown, Iowa Falls (Ellsworth) and Grinnell, Iowa
IVCCD employs 224 individuals at three sites and recognizes the mission “To provide quality learning experiences, ensuring student success, responding to the diverse community's needs, and building community partnerships.”
Henry County Medical Center, Mt. Pleasant, Iowa
Henry County Medical Center is a publicly owned critical access hospital. They employ 265 individuals and lead with the mission “to enhance the health of individuals in our communities through high quality, effective and efficient services.”
Tier 3 Leadership Level – Bronze Achievement
Bridgestone Americas Agriculture Tire (BAAG), Des Moines, Iowa
Bridgestone Americas Agriculture Tire designs and manufactures forestry, flotation, production agricultural, construction and implement tires. BAAG employs 1684 employees in two locations in Iowa and is a wholly owned facility of Bridgestone Corporation.
Tier 3 Leadership Level – Silver Achievement
Genesis Health System, Davenport, Iowa
Genesis Health System employs 3,816 individuals at four hospital campuses in Davenport and Dewitt, Iowa and Silvis, Illinois and multiple clinics and services within the Quad Cities region.
Mary Greeley Medical Center, Ames, Iowa
Mary Greeley Medical Center is a publicly owned 220-bed regional medical center. They employ 1345 individuals in five locations in the Ames area.
Formed in 1993, the Woods Quality Center began as a shared vision of a total quality environment for the entire community, including business and industry, schools, government, non-profit organizations, labor unions, and the service and retail industries.
In 2001 the name was changed to the Iowa Quality Center (IQC) as a result of a new state-wide focus. Today, IQC has over 180 member organizations with more than 48,000 individual members representing government, manufacturing, business, education, labor, retail, service, and healthcare organizations. While the IQC staff is based in Marion, its networking groups, consultation, and membership activities take place throughout the state.
For more information, contact:
Gary Nesteby, Executive Director
Iowa Quality Center
3375 Armar Drive
Marion, Iowa 52302
319-398-7101
E-mail: gnesteby@iowaqc.org
www.iowaqu.org