(NIST: Gaithersburg, MD) -- On Dec. 2, Vice President Joe Biden, and U.S. Commerce Department Secretary Gary Locke, presented three U.S. organizations with the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, the nation’s highest honor for innovation and performance excellence.

The ceremony—the 22nd in the history of the award—honored the 2008 recipients: Cargill Corn Milling, headquartered in Minneapolis (manufacturing); Iredell-Statesville Schools, from Statesville, North Carolina ( education); and Poudre Valley Health System, from Fort Collins, Colorado (health care).

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