Vice President Cheney and Commerce Secretary Gutierrez to Present Malcolm Baldrige Quality Awards

Vice President Dick Cheney and Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez will present three U.S. organizations with the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, the nation's highest honor for organizational performance excellence, Tuesday, March 13, 2007, at the Andrew Mellon Auditorium.

The 2006 Baldrige Award recipients are: Premier Inc., San Diego, Calif. (service); MESA Products Inc., Tulsa, Okla. (small business); and North Mississippi Medical Center, Tupelo, Miss. (health care).

Media Check-In: 1:00 p.m. EDT- 2:00 p.m. EDT; doors to the ceremony close at 2:15 p.m. News media must show a badge with photo or a photo ID with a business card to gain admission to the ceremony. Please fax credential requests including name and title on company letterhead to Kanon McGill at (202) 344-2152 no later than 5:00 p.m. on Monday, March 12, 2007. For logistical questions, contact Kanon McGill at (202) 258-2897.

Media Pre-set: Cameras, tripods, large camera cases or other photographic equipment should be set in place in the auditorium between 8:00 a.m. and 8:30 a.m.

Set Up: 75' Throw, 300 FT Cable Run, TV quality lighting and sound

Satellite Feed: A live satellite broadcast of the ceremony will be available for broadcast TV stations to downlink. A B-roll feed featuring each of the three organizations will be available prior to the start of the ceremony.

Satellite Coordinates:
KU Band (digital): AMC-5, Transponder 8, Slot A, Downlink frequency: 11912.5 mhz (Horiz) DIGITAL PARAMETERS: DATA RATE: 7.5 Mbps, FEC:3/4, SYMBOL RATE: 5.425 C-Band (analog): AMC-3, Transponder 4, Downlink frequency: 3780 mhz (Vertical) Satellite contact: Mike Skehan, cell (202) 744-4592

Media Interviews: To schedule an interview with executives from the 2006 Baldrige Award recipients, contact the following:

• Premier Inc., Hunter Kome, (704) 733-5698, cell (704) 724-3476, hunter_kome@premierinc.com
• North Mississippi Medical Center, Marsha Tapscott, (662) 377-3193, cell (662) 213-3727, mtapscott@nmhs.net
• MESA Products Inc., Terry May, (918) 627-3188, cell (918) 625-3750, mayt@mesaproducts.com

Background: 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 and expanded in 1998 to include education and health care and in 2007 to include non-profit organizations. The award promotes excellence in organizational performance, recognizes the achievements and results of U.S. organizations, and publicizes successful performance strategies. Since 1988, 67 organizations have received Baldrige Awards.

Further information on the Baldrige Award and the 2006 recipients is available at www.baldrige.nist.gov.

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date created: 03/09/07
last update: 03/09/07
contact: inquiries@nist.gov