U.S. Senate Productivity and Quality Award
for Virginia and DC
Our Mission
The mission of Virginia SPQA is to promote continual improvement strategies and to provide training, mentoring, and recognition to organizations in pursuit of performance excellence.
SPQA is charged with administering the U.S. Senate Productivity and Quality Award recognizing the highest caliber of performance excellence.
Our Work
Virginia SPQA fulfills its mission through the Award program and other lower-tier and mentoring programs. We provide Award applicants a comprehensive, low-cost organizational performance evaluation and an extensive feedback report. We train individuals to become experts at assessing and evaluating an entire organization based on the Baldrige Performance Excellence Framework and Criteria, and we conduct Baldrige-based workshops. See our Pathways to Excellence link in Services for our tiered approach to winning the award.
Our Story
Since 1982, Virginia SPQA has served organizations of all sizes from all sectors, and honored over 80 organizations with the prestigious Medallion Award in recognition of their achievement of performance excellence. We have trained hundreds of Examiners in the Baldrige criteria and methodologies to serve our Awards program and to support their own organization’s journey to performance excellence.
The Discovery Program is designed to introduce organizations and their leaders to a business improvement framework based on the Baldrige Excellence Framework.
Featured Content
Volunteer Spotlight
At SPQA, our support in helping organizations on their journey to excellence leverages the talents and experiences of our volunteer workforce. Each workforce member has a unique story to tell. In this article we have interviewed Jim Spengler, our Chair, to get his story. Why did you choose to become a Board Member for SPQA? …
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Baldrige for Beginners
In this Introductory course, SPQA offers an opportunity for individuals and organizations to learn the foundations of the Baldrige Excellence Framework using the Baldrige Excellence Builder to help achieve long-term success. The Baldrige Performance Excellence Framework is a national model for performance excellence. Through questions, the Framework guides organizations to a systemic and integrated perspective…
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Discovery Organization Recognition
Participating in a Self-Assessment and receiving feedback from an Examiner team is the start of any organization’s improvement journey using the Baldrige Framework for Improvement. At the SPQA this program is called “DISCOVERY”. This year, the Educational Employee’s Supplementary Retirement System of Fairfax County (ERFC) submitted their Discovery Self-Assessment. They clearly have recognized the benefit…
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UNOS wins 2021 Award
SPQA is excited to announce UNOS winning the 2021 SPQA Achievement in Performance Excellence Award. We applaud them as they continue their journey toward implementing the Baldrige Performance Excellence Framework. About the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS) is the mission-driven non-profit…
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ESH wins 2021 Award
Eastern State Hospital took an important step this year on its journey toward implementing the Baldrige Performance Excellence Framework by winning the 2021 SPQA Commitment to Performance Excellence Award. As the first public mental health hospital in the United States, Eastern State Hospital traces its roots back to…
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Our Board of Examiners
Below are the names of the individuals who sacrificed time and family to review and provide helpful feedback to the organizations that submitted an application for the Senate Productivity and Quality Award. These persons comprise the esteemed membership of our Board of Examiners. We post their names here in recognition of the significant investment in…
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2021 SPQA Membership
Member Benefits When you become an SPQA member, you demonstrate to your customers and employees that you are committed to the SPQA mission and principles of performance excellence. Member benefits include: Demonstration of a commitment to excellence, 10% discount on all individual training, 10% discount on the Forum for Excellence, Discounted SPQA Award Program application…
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Join Us in Discovery
Start your SPQA Journey with our Discovery Program SPQA’s Discovery program is a partnership between SPQA and your organization. We will be with you every step of the way as you learn and apply Baldrige criteria to your organization and complete an application. The documents below can help you decide whether Discovery is right for…
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The Examiner Process
Thank you for your interest in becoming a SPQA Examiner. Conducting an examination of an outside organization is the best way to learn how to apply the Baldrige Excellence Framework in your organization. The team approach focuses on the examination process and on building examiner skills in using the Framework. The 2021 Examiner Guide provides…
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