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Welcome to the Connecticut Quality Improvement Award Partnership, Inc.

The Connecticut Quality Improvement Award Partnership Inc., America’s first state-level quality award was founded in 1987 utilizing the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award for Performance Excellence criteria in an effort to advance innovative programs that improve quality performance and marketplace competitiveness.

Before Mac Baldrige became Secretary of Commerce during the Reagan Administration, he was CEO of Scovill Brass Company in Waterbury, CT. Sadly, he was killed in a rodeo accident.

For the past 26 years, the Connecticut Quality Improvement Award (CQIA) has been the State’s annual quality awards, recognizing Connecticut manufacturing and service companies that excel in managing quality improvement for business success and growth. Beginning in 1995, health care, education, government and other not-for-profit organizations became eligible to apply along with manufacturing and service companies.

Annually, the CQIA Partnership sponsors Five Steps to the Baldrige Award. The popular Step One, CQIA Innovation Prize, begun in 1995 encourages all organizations with a presence in Connecticut to apply. By recognizing accomplishments during the first stages of their quality journey, it is meant to stimulate interest in organizations to implement quality while fostering recognition of innovative improvements. There is no limit to the number of applications from any organization and no limit to the number of CQIA Innovation Prizes presented each year.

Other Steps to the Baldrige are the Organizational Profile, Categories and Items, CQIA Breakthrough Quality Award, and the highest level Connecticut Leadership Quality Award all based on the Baldrige Award for Excellence criteria. Like the national Baldrige Award, the Connecticut Quality Improvement Award serves as a rigorous process to help organizations improve their competitive position. Winning organizations along with national and international cutting–edge professionals share their successes and innovative improvements at CQIA’s Annual Conference on Quality and Innovation.

The Connecticut Quality Improvement Award Partnership, Inc., a 501(c)(3) not for profit Connecticut organization receives no subsidized money from either state or federal government. All funding comes from application fees, conference registration and generous sponsors.

2012 Sponsors

Sponsors 2012

2012 CQIA Innovation Prize Recipients

PLATINUM

  • PerkinElmer, Shelton – Innovative Technology in Mass Spectrometry; AxION(r) Direct Sample Analysis(tm) System
  • Covidien, North Haven - Tri-Staple(tm) technology
  • Yardney Lithion, Pawcatuck – New, state of the art lithium ion cell design for demanding military applications

GOLD

  • Brain Parade, Stamford - See, Touch, Learn. New approach to learning for special needs children
  • C&M Corporation, Wauregan - Answering the U.S. Military’s COTS initiatives in the area of Interconnect Products
  • Cartus, Danbury - Cartus Mobile eBusiness
  • Energizer Personal Care, Milford -  - Hydro Silk ™  Razor Hydrates Skin Like NO Other Razor Can
  • GoECart 360, Bridgeport -  - The All-in-One SaaS Ecommerce Suite Fully Integrated Multi-Channel Retail Software
  • Greenwich Hospital, Greenwich - Yale New Haven Health System, Pain Management in Joint Replacement Surgery
  • MedAdherence, Norwalk -  - Cloud-based, automated mHealth engagement for better health and lower costs
  • MedPricer, Guilford - Helping hospitals negotiate contracts without paper
  • New Milford Hospital, New Milford – Plow to Plate (R)
  • Pfizer, Groton -  - For the discovery, manufacturing, development and approval of XALKORI(r) for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer
  • Quinnipiac University, Hamden - For the Media Innovation Collaborative (MIC) Project: bridging interdisciplinary gaps
  • Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center, Hartford - Implementation of a Surgical Safety Checklist to Decrease Patient Harm.  Changing culture through an Operating Room Team Training Program
  • The WorkPlace, Bridgeport - Platform to Employment: Putting the Long-Term Unemployed Back to Work
  • TRUMPF, Farmington -  TRUMPF TruMicro 5000 lasers for athermal micro machining
  • United Health Group, Hartford - Personal Rewards Program, Incentivizing individuals to live healthier lives
  • WAHOO Swim Monitor Systems, Redding - Makers of Swim Monitor System

SILVER

  • American Eagle, East Hartford
  • aptMetrics®, Darien
  • Cartus, Danbury  (17)
  • Cigna, Hartford
  • Community Health Center, Middletown
  • Connecticut Resources Recovery Authority, Hartford
  • CT Department of Labor, Wethersfield
  • CTTransit, Hartford
  • Defibtech, Guilford
  • Dr. Energy Saver, Seymour
  • Funkoos, Danbury
  • Greenwich Hospital, Greenwich
  • Hallmark Cards, Enfield
  • Insightexpress, Stamford
  • LiveClips, Stamford
  • Pathways to Technology, Windsor
  • Perimeter Security, Milford
  • Stoptips, Westport
  • WFSB-TV/DT, Hartford
  • William Raveis, Shelton
  • Yale Medical Group, New Haven
  • Yale University, New Haven

1995 – 2012 Winners