HISTORY OF WSQA

The State Legislature officially established the Washington State Quality Award (WSQA) in 1994 with Senate Bill 6220. The bill's passing was the result of several years of hard work from a small group of quality professionals who banded together to draft legislation and establish the organization's first Board of Directors.

The volunteers who worked to create WSQA represented top business, government, and labor unions in the state. The group met for the first time in late December of 1992 in a small conference room at Weyerhaeuser, where they decided to pursue legislation to establish a state quality award.

A small number of volunteers met monthly to craft the organizational structure, policies, and functions of the Board. In the beginning, the group created two organizations - a Quality Award Council to handle the award process and the Quality for Washington State Foundation to run the business and promotion of the award.

Funded initially through generous donations from Weyerhaeuser and Boeing, WSQA was established as a 501.3(c) non-profit organization dedicated to providing education and training on the Baldrige model of performance excellence. The state government provided an administrative program manager, housed in the Secretary of State's Office of Corporations.

The original authorizing legislation required the governor to chair the Council and appoint approximately 20 people to the Council from business, education, and labor and representing the Eastern and Western parts of the state. After several years, the legislation was changed to require the governor appoint only one person and to eliminate state funding for the administrative program manager.

At this point, the internal organizational structure was redesigned to incorporate a Board of Directors and a Panel of Judges. The Panel of Judges is represented with one member serving on the Board. Donations and conference revenues funded the hiring of a part-time contract employee and rent for a small office in Olympia.

Since its creation 10 years ago, WSQA has maintained the value and integrity of the award, providing excellent conferences and training on the principles of Baldrige with very little funding and a host of volunteer effort.

Today, WSQA has launched into a new era with a part-time Executive Director and an administrative staff. The organization aims to build a sound financial base, increase awareness throughout the state, offer high quality educational opportunities, and continue to provide recognition of organizations pursuing and achieving performance excellence.



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