PRESIDENT CLINTON ANNOUNCES WINNERS OF THE 1997 BALDRIGE QUALITY AWARDS

PRESIDENT CLINTON ANNOUNCES WINNERS
OF THE 1997 BALDRIGE QUALITY AWARDS

THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Oct. 15, 1997

The President today announced the winners of the 1997 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. 3M Dental Products Division of St. Paul, Minn.; Solectron Corp. of Milpitas, Calif.; Merrill Lynch Credit Corp. of Jacksonville, Fla.; and Xerox Business Services Division of Rochester, N.Y., are being honored for their achievements in quality and business performance.

"The Baldrige Quality Award is a blueprint for success to help U.S. companies attain and retain market leadership in the 21st century," the President said. "The 1997 award winners once again prove that U.S. companies can improve their competitiveness and their bottom line, even as they make their companies better places to work and their communities better places to live."

The award was established by Congress in 1987; the first awards were presented in 1988. The award's goals are to enhance U.S. competitiveness by promoting quality awareness, recognize quality and business achievements of U.S. companies and publicize these companies' successful performance. The program is managed by the Commerce Department's National Institute of Standards and Technology in conjunction with private industry. Screening of applications for the award is conducted by leading U.S. quality and business experts.

For further information, contact Jan Kosko, National Institute of Standards and Technology, (301) 975-2762.