The W. Edwards Deming Institute will be holding its annual conference in Madison, Wisconsin on November 8–9 , 2008. Contact the Madison Concourse Hotel for hotel reservations. Further details about the 2008 fall conference are available here.

We are happy to annouce that Wisconsin's own Mercy Health System in Janesville is among five organizations nation-wide selected as 2007 Baldrige recipients. Mercy Health System was previously recognized at the Excellence level of achievement by Wisconsin Forward Award in 2003.

Other National Baldrige Quality Award recipients for 2007 include:

• PRO-TEC Coating Company, Leipsic, Ohio (small business)
• Sharp HealthCare, San Diego, California (health care)
• City of Coral Springs, Coral Springs, Florida (nonprofit)
• U.S. Army Armament Research, Development and Engineering Center (ARDEC), Picatinny Arsenal, New Jersey (nonprofit)

The Baldrige National Quality Program has announced the host states for the 2008 and 2009 Regional Conferences. Wisconsin is very happy to be selected, along with Massachusetts, as a 2009 host state.

Watch this or the BNQP website for more about the 2008 Regional Conferences, taking place in Colorado and Louisiana, as they become available. Wisconsin looks forward to seeing you at the 2008 and 2009 conferences, as well as our own l Excellence at Work conference on February 28 and 29, 2008.

Dr. Mark Blazey of Quantum Performance Group will be returning to Wisconsin on January 17 and 18 at MRA–The Management Association in Waukesha.

This interactive two-day seminar with national renowned consultant and Baldrige expert Dr. Mark Blazey, author of Insights to Performance Excellence, is appropriate for anyone interested in learning how the Baldrige framework can impact organizational performance, making good organizations great ones. Past participants have spoken highly of Dr. Blazey's extensive knowledge of the Criteria and his ability to illustrate the importance of specific parts of the Criteria with real-world examples of organizational success and failure.

Click here for a flyer & registration form, or contact the WFA office for more information at (608) 663-5300 or info@forwardaward.org.

Wisconsin Forward Award will hold its annual Excellence at Work conference on February 28 and 29, 2008 at the American Family Conference Center in Madison. Each year, our conference features many opportunities to share best practices with Baldrige and state award-winning organizations in all sectors of the economy. The conference also includes learning opportunities especially designed for organizations new to Baldrige-based improvement as well as those who are building on years of successes.

More information, including registration materials, will be posted on our Excellence at Work Conference page as it becomes available.

Wisconsin Forward Award congratulated ten Wisconsin organizations at its upcomong Award Ceremony & Gala Reception on August 2, 2007. Agnesian HealthCare, MetaStar, Pewaukee Public Schools, St. Clare Hospital & Health Services, St. Clare Meadows Care Center, St. Mary's Care Center, and St. Mary's Hospital will all be recognized at the Mastery level of achievement.

Evergreen Retirement Community and Upland Hills Health receive honors at the Proficiency achievement level, and Trostel Whitewater Molding receives recognition at the Commitment level. We salute all of our 2007 applicants for their achievements and best practices.

Congratulations to all of our our 2007 recipients! Click here to read the official press release from Secretary Roberta Gassman of the Department of Workforce Development, on behalf of Governor Jim Doyle (.pdf).

Summary applications of the three recipients of the 2006 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award are available for free viewing or download from the Baldrige National Quality Award website.

2006 recipients include:

• Premier (Service): a healthcare strategic alliance entirely owned by not-for-profit hospitals and health System organizations; owners share needed services and programs aimed at improving clinical quality and cost-effectiveness.
  
• MESA Products (Small Business): a small, privately held business that designs, manufactures, and installs cathodic protection systems which control the corrosion of metal surfaces; this electrochemical corrosion control is applied to underground pipelines and submerged tanks.
  
• North Mississippi Medical Center (Health Care): the largest rural hospital in the United States and Mississippi’s largest community-owned hospital, which provides a wide array of inpatient, outpatient, and emergency services.

You can access application summaries by clicking here. Hard copies of these documents will also be mailed upon request by e-mailing npq@nist.gov or calling (301) 975-2036.