Boulder-based financial institution Elevations Credit Union has recently received the 2020 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award for its organizational performance excellence.
The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award was created in 1987 and is the nation’s only presidential award that recognizes outstanding U.S. organizations that set world-class standards in competitiveness and measurable outcomes. Elevations Credit Union (ECU) was one of five recipients in the nonprofit category. It is the only financial institution to receive the award in a six-year period, receiving the award for the first time in 2014.
“Twelve years ago, we chose to leverage the Baldrige framework in order to best serve our members,” said Gerry Agnes, President and CEO of Elevations Credit Union. “It has helped us do that and more — we have created a trusted, resilient financial organization that’s here to serve our members with financial solutions for a better life,” Gerry said.
Organizations that are eligible to receive the award are evaluated using the Baldrige Excellence Framework, which focuses on seven areas: leadership, strategy, customers, measurement, analysis and knowledge management, workforce, operations, and results. Organizations across the globe use the Baldrige Criteria to guide their operations, improve performance, and produce sustainable results.
ECU excelled in process management, innovation, use of data and analytics, and testing and learning, as shown on the Baldrige application for 2020. ECU also has been recognized for sharing best practices with other organizations through events such as Sharing Days.
Organizations must receive the top award for excellence from their state or regional performance excellence program to be considered for the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. In 2013 ECU received the Peak Performance Award from Rocky Mountain Performance Excellence (RMPEx) and received it a second-time last year.
“Our mission is to deliver Baldrige-based guidance and support in partnership with our community of role-model organizations,” said Michael S. Gratz, RM- PEx Executive Director. “Elevations is held up as a role model by the entire RMPEx community, and their recognition as a Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award recipient for the second time is proof of their commitment to sustainable excellence,” Michael said.
Only five other Colorado organizations have been recognized with this award, including CH2M Hill (now Jacobs Engineering Group, Inc.) in 2000, the Kenneth W. Monfort College of Business at the University of Northern Colorado in 2004, Poudre Valley Health System in 2008, the City of Fort Collins in 2017 and Donor Alliance, Inc. in 2018.
“The 2020 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award confirms Elevations Credit Union’s level of excellence,” said Kate Brown, Chair of Elevations Credit Union’s Board of Directors. “This award is an incredible milestone, and we look forward to continuing on this path to best serve our loyal and growing base of members,” Kate said.
For more information regarding Elevations Credit Union, visit: elevationscu.com
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