Six small businesses selected to expand their opportunities to grow their companies, enhance their customer service and contribute to Virginia’s economy.
The Commonwealth of Virginia’s Office of Economic Development and the Virginia-D.C. United States Senate Productivity and Quality Award (SPQA) Program announce the launch of the 2017 “Ones to Watch” small business initiative. The SPQA’s “Ones to Watch” initiative is based on the Baldrige Excellence Framework. The program helps Virginia and D.C. businesses improve financial results, generate customer loyalty, create jobs, improve operational effectiveness, and engage their workforce. The selected businesses are located throughout the Commonwealth and include Highground Services, Inc., Intellectual Point, J.R. Caskey Inc., National Security and Door Corporation, RMGS, Inc., and Systems Engineering, Inc.
Under the general oversight of the Department of Small Business and Supplier Diversity, the businesses will receive twelve months of free training on how to conduct a Discovery (Baldrige based) self-evaluation of business processes. The businesses will receive feedback on strengths and opportunities for improvement, an experienced mentor, and access to a network of professional service and resource providers.
“In partnership with SPQA, we have established a unique program where the goal is to help small businesses thrive and stay in business,” says Lawrence D. Wilder, Jr. Advisor for Social Entrepreneurship Secretary of Commerce and Trade.
According to Eric Fletcher, Chair of Virginia’s United States Senate Productivity and Quality Award Board, “We selected the businesses based on their commitment to expanding their opportunities to grow and enhance their customer services.”
“A key element of our mission of SPQA is to provide organizations with continual improvement strategies. Through this partnership, we live our SPQA mission and as a result, businesses in our region benefit greatly,” according to Eric Fletcher.
For more information on the project contact OnestoWatch@spqa-va.org or visit the SPQA website at www.spqa-va.org.