ARDEC honored with Malcolm Baldrige award

WASHINGTON, Jan. 15 (UPI) -- The U.S. Army's Armament Research Development and Engineering Center announced it has been honored with a Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award.

The Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, established by the U.S. Congress to enhance the competitiveness and performance of U.S. businesses, education, healthcare and non-profit organizations, is recognized as the nation's highest presidential honor for organizational performance excellence.

Officials from the Washington-based think tank for advancing the science of strategic talent management, Human Capital Institute, say the announced award for ARDEC -- one of their members -- is an impressive achievement.

"The HCI team continues to be impressed by the caliber of talent leaders at ARDEC," David Forman, HCI chief learning officer, said in a statement. "They understand how to develop and engage their employees to create the collaborative environment needed to be the first Department of Defense branch to be recognized for organizational performance."

By receiving the award, ARDEC, the Army's principal research arm, becomes the first organization from the U.S. Department of Defense to receive a Malcolm Baldrige award.

Officials point to ARDEC's work to create more than 20 new products along with increasing non-Army revenue from $60 million to $140 million in six years and having a 92 percent job satisfaction rating as reasons for the honor.