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THE WHITE HOUSE

                     Office of the Press Secretary
                        (Aboard Air Force One)
________________________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release                                  November 23, 1999
                     PRESIDENT CLINTON ANNOUNCES 1999
                          BALDRIGE AWARD WINNERS

The President today announced the 1999 winners of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. Four organizations -- STMicroelectronics, Inc.-- Region Americas (Carrollton, Texas; manufacturing); BI (Minneapolis, Minn.; service); The Ritz-Carlton Hotel Company, L.L.C. (Atlanta, Ga.; service); and Sunny Fresh Foods (Monticello, Minn.; small business/manufacturing) -- are being honored for their achievements in performance excellence.

"The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award plays a major role in revitalizing our Nation's economy, competitiveness and quality of life. Through their tireless quest for excellence, the 1999 Baldrige Award recipients are models for any organization that wants to improve performance and competitiveness," the President said.

"Although no Baldrige Award recipients were named in the new education and health care categories, I am delighted that our Nation's schools and health care organizations are now full partners in the Baldrige National Quality Program. I am proud of the 25 education and health care organizations that participated in this first year's process, and I have no doubt that in the years to come this program will play a key role in revitalizing our education and health care systems," said the President.

The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award was established by Congress in 1987 to enhance the competitiveness of U.S. businesses by promoting quality awareness, recognizing the quality and performance achievements of U.S. organizations, and publicizing successful performance strategies. The program is managed by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, an agency of the Commerce Department's Technology Administration, in conjunction with the private sector. Screening of applications for the Baldrige Award is conducted by a mostly private-sector board of experts.

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