By Maxine Shapiro, KERA 90.1 Commentator
Dallas, TX – In a climate of distrust and executive corruption, it's time for a little breath of fresh air. I'm Maxine Shapiro with KERA Marketplace Middays.
Tomorrow in Dallas, the 2002 Texas Award for Performance Excellence will be given to the Bill J. Priest Institute for Economic Development. This will be the first time since the awards inception in 1994 that a post-secondary educational institute will be honored. After speaking with Rachelle Howell from the Institute, I learned this was not an easy award to come by. The Quality Texas Foundation spearheads this award program. It recognizes those Texas organizations that "excel in performance, quality and customer satisfaction." This is not a competitive program. Some years there have been up to three awards given. Some past recipients include Fort Worth-based Branch-Smith, Inc. Printing Division, Dallas-based TDIndustries, and Brazoport ISD. Hmm.
Now the award criterion is patterned after the prestigious Malcolm Baldridge National Quality Award. There are seven main criteria. Some include leadership, customer and market focus, human resource focus, and results. According to Ms. Howell, the application process alone is worth the time and money - there is an award application fee. It calls for extensive self-examination within the organization to fit the criteria. Howell admitted that this was the third year the Institute applied, and each year they improved. And Catherine Schanafelt from Quality Texas agreed that this award is for companies or organizations that are not content with being just average. Besides the self-examination, seven volunteers then review and scrutinize the criteria. It's these seven comprehensive analyses that organizations find invaluable.
The Bill J. Priest Institute for Economic Development's is a combined effort of the Dallas County Community College District and the private sector to support economic development. Congratulations, guys, it was worth the wait. For KERA Marketplace Middays, I'm Maxine Shapiro.
Marketplace Midday Reports air on KERA 90.1 Monday - Friday at 1:04 P.M.