In December 1982, one year after the airing of the NBC White Paper, “If Japan Can, Why Can’t We?” (1981) in which Dr. W. Edwards Deming and his ideas of continuous improvement were introduced formally to the United States, the United States Senate passed Resolution 503, which established the United States Senate Productivity Award (SPA). This award was intended to foster awareness of the need for productivity improvement, and to recognize organizations at the state level that demonstrated such improvement.
Every state is eligible to have this award, however, few do. Established immediately following the Senate Resolution, Virginia’s is the longest continuously running award process, and throughout the years, this state has served as a model and a resource for other states establishing similar awards. Both Alabama and Nevada used Virginia’s process model extensively when initiating their award processes. Other states have consulted with Virginia, and Virginia has a reputation for willingness to share information and lessons learned from experience.
Although originally established as the “Senate Productivity Award,” Virginia has adopted the name “U.S. Senate Productivity and Quality Award for Virginia”, effective as of the 1993 award year, to more accurately reflect what all organizations are striving for today.
When the award was established, there were only two award categories, manufacturing and non-manufacturing. As the award progressed, the Board recognized the need to expand these categories. In 1986, Manufacturing and non-manufacturing became manufacturing and service, both for the private sector, and a third category, for state and federal agencies was created. Interest from the public sector continued to such an extent that a fourth category, for local agencies, was created in 1988. In 1999 the sector categories were changed again to include: Manufacturing, Service, Education, Health, and Government Sectors. Within each sector, an organization could be identified as a small business, with “small business” defined as an organization with fewer than 50 employees.
Although Senators John Warner and Paul Trible appointed the original Board, today the Board is self-perpetuating. New members are appointed for a term that is two years plus the option/expectation for two more (total of 4) and are often representatives of award recipient organizations. The Board ensures balanced representation from public and private sectors, various organization sizes, major state regions, and academia.
The U.S. Senate Productivity Award for Continuing Excellence (ACE) was created in 1989; this award recognizes previous recipients of the U.S. Senate Productivity and Quality Award for Virginia. Originally it was determined that the organization could reapply after three years from the date it received the previous award. In 2001, the SPQA Board changed the time frame from three to five years between applications. For this award, an organization competes only against the SPQA Criteria but must clearly demonstrate that it has exceeded performance from its previous application, and can demonstrate a sustained, continuous improvement effort.
SPQA aligns closely with the National Baldrige Program for Performance Excellence in all its operations and award programs. It is a qualifying state program where organizations must receive top recognition to qualify for application to the national award. However, this was changed in 2024 to allow organizations to apply directly to the national level. Since 1999, applications have been accepted from manufacturing, service, education, health, and government. In 2023, Communities of Excellence was added as an additional category. SPQA receives applications from Virginia, the District of Columbia, and Maryland (2024).