Winners Announced in Final RIT/USA Today Quality Cup Competition

May 7, 2001
by Paul Stella
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Rochester Institute of Technology and USA Today announce the winners of the 2001 RIT/USA Today Quality Cup competition. The award recognizes winners for their outstanding contributions to improving the quality of products and services they provide.

Award presentations will take place during a noon luncheon on Friday, May 11, at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, 70 State St., Rochester.

Cups were awarded in five categories.

  • Government—Tennessee Valley Authority, Chattanooga, Tenn., for redesigning the integration of operational processes
  • Health Care—Wilkes-Barre General Hospital, Wilkes-Barre, Pa., for reducing the incidence of infections in post-operative heart surgery patients
  • Manufacturing—Iomega Corp., Roy, Utah, for developing a more efficient product development cycle; and Longaberger Co., Frazeysburg, Ohio, for implementing a new method of material delivery into the manufacturing process
  • Service—Providian Financial Corp., San Francisco, Ca., for designing initiatives that reduced complaints and improved customer retention
  • Small Business—Wes-Tex Printing, Brownwood, Texas, for expediting production while maintaining product quality

    Unlike other national awards, the Quality Cup honors small teams of employees, not whole companies or divisions. Through teamwork and Total Quality Management principles, the winners cut costs, solve problems and increase efficiency.

    RIT and USA Today received 146 nominations from Fortune 500 companies, government agencies, educational institutions, health care organizations and small businesses nationwide. All entries were reviewed by officials at RIT’s College of Business, USA Today and a panel of independent experts from around the nation.

    The competition, in its 10th and final year, was developed by Richard Rosett, former RIT College of Business dean. The Quality Cup itself—a solid silver goblet suspended atop a marble column—was designed and crafted by Leonard Urso, a sculptor, silversmith and professor in the School of American Craft.

    For more information, log onto the Quality Cup Web site at www.qualitycup.org.

    NOTE: RIT’s College of Business is recognized nationally as a leading provider of career-oriented business education, offering undergraduate and graduate level programs in accounting, finance, international business, management, management information systems, marketing, and photographic marketing management. U.S. News & World Report ranks RIT’s College of Business among the top 50 undergraduate business programs in the country.

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