GRAND ISLAND, NEB. (May 5, 2008)—Nebraska Diplomats, and company, community and government officials came together today to recognize the tremendous economic contributions of the state’s many businesses and industries.
Lieutenant Governor Rick Sheehy welcomed guests during lunch and presented a plaque to the newest Economic Development Certified Community—Kearney, and Diplomats President Tim White presented the Diplomats President’s Awards to representatives of Principal Financial Group and Standard Iron, both in Grand Island.
• Principal Financial Group originally started out as The Grand Island Group Insurance Center in December 1982. Under the direction of Rod Karsten, ten employees administered small group life and health insurance plans for 2,000 accounts.
When the company celebrated its 10th anniversary in 1992, its square footage measured 93,000 sq. ft., staff numbered 425, group accounts more than 65,000 and policyholders more than 750,000. Depositor staff also administered 225,000 plan holders.
By summer 1996, the Pension SBU (now RIS) began transferring pension administration work to the Grand Island office. Starting out with ten employees handling repetitive benefit services and basic pension recordkeeping, the area quickly grew to include pension plan administration, 401(k) recordkeeping, retiree benefit payments, and a contact center for 401(k) customers. Other company employees took on additional work for the Group SBU, including underwriting for Principal Health Care, contract writing for small employer plans, and staffing the Benefits Verification contact center for Group customers and medical/dental providers.
To accommodate the company’s growth, a neighboring property was purchased in 1998 for additional parking, bringing the total campus size to 13.57 acres. By October 1, 2007, staff totaled 591.
A current $3 million expansion will add 23,000 sq. ft. of work space, meeting rooms, and training facilities, and allow the hiring of as many as 150 additional employees. Plans also include the expansion and renovation of the wellness center, dining facilities, and a new mailroom/copy center.
The company’s culture strongly encourages volunteerism, giving employees eight hours of paid Volunteer Time Off (VTO) annually. As a result, in 2007 more than $5,880 was donated to worthy organizations through the employee charity committee, 2,503 VTO hours were donated by 368 employees, and many employees serve on a number of boards, and 40 employees completed Leadership Tomorrow training to familiarize themselves with the community and its needs. In celebration of the Grand Island office’s 25th anniversary in 2007, $25,000 in matching funds was presented to the Grand Island Community Foundation to provide $50,000 in community grants.
• Standard Iron, a contract manufacturer of primarily metal products, opened its manufacturing facility in Grand Island in April 2004, leasing a building from the Central Nebraska Humane Society.
 The company decided to build its first-ever facility outside Minnesota based on the fact that CNH (Case New Holland) closed its East Moline, Ill. production plant, consolidating its operations in Grand Island (CNH was and still is one of Standard Iron’s biggest clients). The Grand Island location also provided the opportunity to expand business into Kansas and Missouri.
The company moved into a new 116,000 sq. ft. facility in July 2005. Since opening, the company has more than doubled its staff to 130. In addition to CNH, Standard Iron’s clients include Kawasaki in Lincoln; Claas (formerly Caterpiller) in LaVista; Thermo King in Hastings; Husquarvna in Beatrice; and John Deere in Iowa. The company also ships products to Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, Belgium and a couple locations in Europe. Late last year, it earned its ISO quality registration.
Dave McCracken, quality engineer with Tenneco in Seward, Neb., a former Edgerton Award recipient, announced the recipients of 2008 Edgerton Quality Awards for ongoing efforts in quality and performance excellence.
Edgerton Quality Award for Commitment—Bellevue University, Bellevue, Neb.
The University was founded by the Bellevue Chamber of Commerce in 1966 as Bellevue College, offering traditional semester-based programs in a single building near Offutt Air Force Base. With the addition of graduate degree programs, Bellevue College became Bellevue University in 1994. In 1996, the institution started offering both graduate and undergraduate programs online. Recognizing the needs of busy working adults, Bellevue University was one of the first in the nation to offer accelerated bachelor’s degree completion programs, affording adult students the ability to transfer credit for previous learning. The University offers 25 accelerated degree completion programs and 20 programs taught in a more traditional classroom setting. At the graduate level, 15 Masters Degrees are offered.
Its mission is to provide distinctive professional, business, information technology and liberal arts education at the undergraduate and graduate levels and it masterfully achieves this through a dedicated staff of 648 full- and part-time employees, including 82 full-time faculty members, 253 administrators and 99 clerical employees; a high quality physical learning environment and cutting-edge technology, including its new state-of-the-art 72,000 sq. ft. Educational Services Building, Lozier Professional Center, Riley Technology Center and A.C. Nelsen Computer Labs and other facilities; and expectations for a safe and healthy work environment and learning environment for employees and students alike; and relationships with key suppliers, partners and collaborators.
Accepting the award was Dr. Peter Heineman, director of quality assurance at Bellevue University.
Edgerton Quality Award for Commitment—Alegent Health in Omaha, Neb.
Alegent Health is a non-profit integrated health care delivery system that was formed in January 1996 when Bergan Mercy Health System and Immanuel Medical Center consolidated. Alegent is made up of 8,646 employees and 1,963 volunteers who all provide compassionate quality health care services.
To become the world-class health organization it is today, Alegent’s CEO announced it would undergo a “Quality Revolution” in 2004, which involved a highly intensive focus on quality. More than 500 stakeholders were engaged in the process leading to the development of Alegent’s vision, which was “to achieve world class leadership in compassionate, faith-based health services that measurably enrich the lives of families we serve through an exceptional commitment to quality.”
The four commitments that form the basis of Alegent’s daily accountability and interation are relationships, quality, innovation and stewardship. Specifically, the introduction of a narrative tool, ethnography, an enhanced listening tool for patients has resulted in an increase in patient satisfaction and overall employee morale.
Alegent incorporates a continuous quality improvement methology called FOCUS PDSA (Plan, Do, Study, Act). Other process improvement tools it uses include rapid cycle change, LEAN principles, and Root Cause Analysis, which all provide ongoing data for continually improving processes and clinical outcomes.
Accepting the award was Dr. Mark Kestner, vice president and chief quality officer at Alegent Health.
The Edgerton Quality Award is patterned after the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award program, which is the nation’s highest honor for quality and performance excellence. The award is presented to businesses that are models in the journey for excellence. Quality principles are deployed throughout their organizations and in their day-to-day operations. The awards are presented by the Nebraska Department of Economic Development through the Nebraska Manufacturing Extension Partnership, along with cosponsors—the Nebraska Diplomats and the Nebraska Section of the American Societyy for Quality.
All applicants must complete a report summarizing their quality and performance excellence practices in the categories of leadership, strategic planning, customer  and market focus, information and knowledge management, human resources, process management, and business results.
Edgerton Quality Award examiners review each applicant’s report, conduct on-site reviews and provide individualized feedback reports. These quality practitioners log more than 1,000 volunteer hours during the examination process.

FOR INFORMATION CONTACT
Patty Wood at 800-426-6505, 402-471-1559, email: patty. This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it