Columbia, MO -(AmmoLand.com)- Larry and Brenda Potterfield recently attended the 28th Annual Quest for Excellence Conference where they were recognized for a $1 million restricted gift to the Foundation for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award.
The conference was held April 3rd through 6th at the Marriott Baltimore Waterfront in Baltimore, Maryland and served as the official conference of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. A first of its kind, the gift establishes a $1 million monetary prize to be awarded to the first Missouri K-12 public school district to apply for and receive the Baldrige National Quality Award; until such time, the Baldrige Foundation benefits from the gift by retaining interest and income earned.
“As a two-time recipient of the Baldrige National Quality Award, MidwayUSA and Larry Potterfield have demonstrated an unparalleled understanding of the Baldrige Framework,” said Al Faber, President and CEO of the Baldrige Foundation. “But Larry and Brenda Potterfield are also champions of Baldrige and the transformational impact it can have on education as evidenced by this donation of $1 million to encourage schools in Missouri to begin the Baldrige journey.”
Larry Potterfield, Founder and CEO of MidwayUSA, is more than familiar with the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. George Benson, Chair of the Board of Directors of the Foundation for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, introduced Larry as “one of the most recognized champions of Baldrige throughout the United States.” Larry’s company, MidwayUSA, is an Internet Retailer of JUST ABOUT EVERYTHING for Shooting, Hunting and the Outdoors; MidwayUSA was also recognized at the conference, receiving their second consecutive Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award.
“Learning and applying the leadership and management principles from Baldrige has significantly affected the performance of MidwayUSA,” said Larry. “We believe Baldrige can do the same for education, so this is our way of sharing our success and giving something back – in support of public education.”
The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award is presented annually to manufacturing, service, small business, health care, education and nonprofit organizations that apply and are judged to be outstanding in the seven categories of the Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence. Over the last 28 years, the National Institute of Standards and Technology has selected a total of 102 organizations to receive the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award.
School districts interested in learning more about the Baldrige Performance Excellence Program may contact Kellie Glenn at (202) 285-1334 or kglenn@baldrigefoundation.org.
About the Baldrige Performance Excellence Program:
The Baldrige Performance Excellence Program was established in 1987 to enhance the competitiveness, quality and productivity of U.S. organizations for the benefit of all residents. The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award uses the Baldrige Excellence Framework to provide organizations feedback in seven major categories: leadership; strategy; customers; measurement, analysis, and knowledge management; workforce; operations; and results.
For more information about the Baldrige National Quality Award, please visit http://www.nist.gov/
About MidwayUSA:
Both country kids from Missouri, Larry and Brenda Potterfield turned their passion for shooting sports into a career by opening a small gun shop in 1977 that would eventually become MidwayUSA (http://www.midwayusa.com). They instilled family values like honesty, integrity and respect for others into the business, and strive to maintain this culture with each Employee added to their growing team. For over 38 years, MidwayUSA has maintained an unyielding focus on Customer Satisfaction and continues to offer JUST ABOUT EVERYTHING for Shooting, Hunting and the Outdoors.
For more information on MidwayUSA, visit their website (http://www.midwayusa.com), find them on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/OfficialMidwayUSA), or follow them on Twitter (http://twitter.com/midwayusa).