Tulsa Business Honored For Excellence

It's like an Oscar for an actor or a Nobel Prize for a scientist. The Malcolm Baldrige Award is seen by many as the highest award that can be achieved by a business, and a Tulsa business has gotten

Tuesday, March 13th 2007, 9:34 am

By: News On 6

It's like an Oscar for an actor or a Nobel Prize for a scientist. The Malcolm Baldrige Award is seen by many as the highest award that can be achieved by a business, and a Tulsa business has gotten one. The News On 6â€™s Steve Berg reports Mesa Products is one of just three businesses to get a Baldrige Award this year.

It was a party atmosphere at Mesa Products as they watched the satellite feed from Washington DC Tuesday. But it definitely looks like they've earned it.

"It's phenomenal. We've tried, like I say, for five years to Baldrige Award,â€ said Lynn Mushenski of Mesa Products. â€œAnd everybody's just elated that we got it."

At Mesa, they're in the business of cathodic protection, which simply put is special devices that prevent corrosion of oil and gas pipelines.

The Baldrige Board of Examiners spent three straight days at the plant, and then dozens of hours reviewing Mesa's business practices, and that's just during one year's application. Mesa didn't win the first four tries.

"It's very uncommon for someone to win that award first out of the gate,â€ said Mushenski. â€œI think the average is about 10 years. And we applied five times."

The Baldrige group will only give out as many awards as they think there are companies worthy of receiving it. One year, it was as many as seven, some years, it's as few as two. This year, Mesa is one of just three. What's remarkable is it's the third year in a row that an Oklahoma-based entity has gotten one.

"I told my family it's got to be in the water," Mushenski said.

Companies have to wait five years after winning before they can apply again. As his workers in Tulsa watched via satellite, Mesa President and Founder Terry May said he plans on seeing them again in Washington in 2011.

For more information about the Malcolm Baldrige award, logon to the National Institute for Standards and Technology website.

For more information about Mesa Products, visit their website at www.mesaproducts.com.