Three organizations—a manufacturing company, a hospital and a health care alliance—received the 2006 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award.

The companies were announced by President Bush and Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez. They were selected from 76 applicants and after a rigorous year-long evaluation process that examined the organizations’ leadership, strategic planning, customer and market focus, measurement, analysis and knowledge management, human resource focus, process management and results.

MESA Products, a recipient of the Baldrige Award for the small-business category, is a designer and manufacturer of cathodic protection systems that control the corrosion of metal surfaces. Based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, MESA achieved a sales increase from less than $6 million in 1985 to more than $25 million in 2006. It has applied lean manufacturing concepts to dramatically improve cycle times, and enjoys employee-satisfaction rates that are 20 percent or more above industry normative comparisons.

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