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The Oklahoma Quality Foundation announced Tri County Tech as the new executive leadership for the nonprofit focused on helping organizations across Oklahoma by inspiring role model performance and results.

Affiliated with the prestigious presidential level Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award administered by the U.S. Department of Commerce, the core purpose of the Oklahoma Quality Foundation is economic development. As organizations grow and improve, so do their communities, and so does their state.

Superintendent & CEO Lindel Fields said in a statement:

“We are excited to assume management of the Oklahoma Quality Foundation. Its alignment with the Baldrige Performance Excellence Program makes it a perfect fit for Tri County Tech. The Baldrige framework is our playbook. As a result of our playbook, we have one of the highest completion rates for students in the country. We also credit Baldridge with our ability to consistently be named by Fortune as one of the top places to work in the U.S. In partnering with the Oklahoma Quality Foundation, we hope to inspire organizations to become great places to work with world-class results.”

Regarded as one of the country’s most rigorous Baldrige affiliated programs, the Oklahoma Quality Foundation is the only way an Oklahoma company can apply for a national award. The Foundation’s highest achievement level is the Leadership in Excellence award. This state-level recognition allows organizations to apply for the national quality award.

Deputy Superintendent & Chief Quality Officer of Tri County Tech, Dr. Tammie Strobel, said:

“No matter your organization’s size, sector, or industry, we can support you on your improvement journey. Our approach is founded on the internationally renowned criteria for performance excellence. This time-tested results-proven strategy has helped thousands of organizations fulfill their vision by better understanding their strengths and opportunities for improvement in the following categories: Leadership, Strategy, Customers, Measurement, Analysis, Knowledge Management, Workforce, Operations, and Results.”

Submitting an Oklahoma Quality Foundation application is an effective way to look at an organization from a systems perspective, energize employees, and focus on a company’s results. The application levels are designed to assess the degree to which an organization has developed and deployed sound approaches, resulting in systematic improvement.

Tri County Tech is an experienced leader in performance excellence. One of 29 public technology centers in the Oklahoma Career and Technical Education System serves the residents of three counties and has a vision of inspiring success through life-changing learning experiences. With a goal that no student should be denied an education due to inability to pay, TCT provides scholarships and funding for student expenses such as medication, gasoline, clothing, and food. TCT has sustained a 93 percent student completion/retention and placement rate for nine fiscal years. The institution also increased graduate wages to well above the national average while growing its own revenues 34 percent since 2009–without federal funding and despite a sizable reduction in state funding. In 2018, U.S. Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross awarded Tri County Tech as one of five recipients of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award.

Tri County Tech’s forward-thinking focus, not only on customers but also their workforce, has created a high-performing, grace-filled culture of excellence. Tri County Tech added another year of being Great Place to Work® Certified to its locker of accolades, six years in a row. Tri County Tech has also been named Fortunes’ Top Places to Work lists in 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2020.