HONORED FOR COMMITMENT-City of Crossville Mayor J.H. Graham (second from left) and Cumberland County Mayor Kenneth Carey (second from right) accept the Commitment Award won by Crossville-Cumberland County at the recent Tennessee Center for Performance Excellence (TNCPE) awards banquet. Making the presentation were (left) TNCPE President Katie Rawls and Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development Commissioner Karla Davis. (Photo courtesy Photographic Services State of Tennessee)
Crossville-Cumberland County has earned TNCPE’s Commitment Award in the annual Excellence in Tennessee award program administered by the Tennessee Center for Performance Excellence (TNCPE).
Representatives of Crossville-Cumberland County accepted the award at the 18th annual Excellence in Tennessee Awards Banquet on February 23, at the Franklin Marriott Cool Springs in Franklin.
Crossville-Cumberland County, located at a prime “crossroads,” in Tennessee, is alive and vibrant with economic activities, and serves as a Mecca for tourists and retirees.
Through an annual evaluation and assessment process, the non-profit TNCPE recognizes organizations that have achieved the highest standards of excellence in their operations and results. The program uses the Criteria for Performance Excellence, established by the national Baldrige Performance Excellence Program, as the evaluation tool.
Awards are presented in four categories: Interest Recognition (the beginning level), Commitment, Achievement, and the highest level – the Excellence Award.
“My congratulations to Crossville-Cumberland County for earning TNCPE’s Commitment Award, and for all the hard work that helped them achieve this honor,” said Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen. “Crossville-Cumberland County has met a specific set of criteria and standards only found in the country’s best-run organizations. Pursuing these standards is a significant achievement that encourages growth and innovation within the business, which helps drive economic development in Tennessee. I applaud Crossville-Cumberland County for achieving this recognition.”
Recipients of Commitment Awards have demonstrated progress by identifying and putting in place some key process improvements, which are directly attributable to a fact-based improvement process.
“While I’m delighted to honor Crossville-Cumberland County with a Commitment Award, I want to emphasize the true nature of this achievement,” said TNCPE President and CEO Kathryn Rawls. “This is so much more than a plaque on a boardroom wall. Pursuing a TNCPE award demonstrates that Crossville-Cumberland County has adopted proven performance practices, principles, and strategies that nurture excellence in all aspects of business – from client relations to workforce development to results. These processes will help Crossville-Cumberland County continue to be successful for years to come.”
This year, CIGNA Government Services earned an Excellence Award. Two organizations earned the TNCPE Achievement Award, 11 earned the Commitment Award and three earned Interest Recognition.
“These efforts translate into organizations where people want to work and want to do business,” said Rawls “I’m proud that Crossville-Cumberland County is among these high achievers taking such positive steps to grow internally and benefit our economy.”
Since TNCPE’s creation in 1993, more than 1,100 organizations have progressed through one or more levels of achievement. A Board of Examiners made up of experts in business, education, health care and government assessed this year’s applicants in seven categories: leadership; strategic planning; customer focus; measurement, analysis and knowledge management; workforce focus; process management; and results.
The TNCPE program, which is itself a national and international role model, is available to all businesses, educational institutions, health care organizations, government agencies and other non-profit entities.
For more information on Crossville-Cumberland County, please contact, Valerie Hale, Assistant City Clerk at 931-787-1684 or [email protected].
For more information on the Tennessee Center for Performance Excellence, contact Katie Rawls, President, at the organization’s Nashville office: (615) 889-8323, (800) 453-6474, or [email protected].
