Welcome to the
Greater Memphis Association for Quality

The Greater Memphis Association for Quality (GMAQ) is a non-profit, organization established in 1993 to promote quality awareness and recognize quality excellence in organizations in the greater Memphis area. Its members are from all aspects of the community, e.g., manufacturing, service, small business, non-profit, healthcare or education. GMAQ was one of the first city awards to be integrated with its state quality award, the Tennessee Quality Award, to provide an avenue of recognition leading from the local to the national level. We are a Baldrige-based association that promotes performance excellence through the self-assessment process using the Baldrige criteria.

GMAQ offers to the community excellent networking opportunities, a variety of educational seminars, training in the Malcolm Baldrige Quality Criteria, and a quality award process given to those organizations that excel in quality management. One of the most valuable assets any community can offer its citizens is a reputation for world class quality in its business, government, and educational sectors. Quality management systems, such as the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Criteria, provide a template for organizations to build quality into their processes and promote customer satisfaction, effective utilization of resources, and increased competition. GMAQ has been committed to a vision of "Making Memphis Work Better" that facilitates this effort.

GMAQ Mission Statement

To build a reputation for the greater Memphis regional area as a source of pride and excellence in the delivery of its products and services by:

• Promoting quality awareness, processes, and results
• Providing an environment for organizations to share quality technologies
• Recognizing the quality achievements of organizations in the Region

GMAQ Quality Teams

• Board of Directors

Oversees the affairs of GMAQ, ensures the bylaws are upheld, and supports the Board President and the Executive Director in the administration of the association.
• Membership Team

Plans and implements the annual membership drive and coordinates activities for the members.
• Marketing Team

Obtains press coverage and other media opportunities for positive exposure and credibility including design and printing of all program materials, production of a quarterly newsletter, and maintenance of the GMAQ web site.
• Process Team

Oversees design of the application, training of examiners, processing of applications, and selection of winners.
• Special Events Education Team

Plans and delivers educational seminars and all special events.

GMAQ Board of Directors

The current board members are as follows:

Marcia Boyd Director of Quality Shelby County Government Lester Brown Vice President, Bartlett Main Office First Tennessee Patrick Brown VP/CFO Center for Healthcare Quality Olivia Bursey System Compliance Engineer Medtronic Sofamor Danek Loretta Dale Director of Training MSQPC - The Quality Center Pearl Gibson Manager, Quality and Professional Development City of Memphis Professional Dev. Ctr. Teresa Hartnett Planning & Research Director Div. of Business & Finance, U of M Jan Hopper TQI Coordinator VA Medical Center Dr. Neal Jackson Director, Graduate Eng. Dept. Christian Brothers University Jim Lippy Executive Director GMAQ Ginger Manie Director of Quality Assurance Interstate Blook Bank, Inc. Jenny McNary Director of Quality Porter-Leath Children's Center Drew Mohler Director of Process Innovation Buckman Laboratories Terri S. Moore Quality Consultant International Paper Dr. Lyle Miller Founding Partner The Dental Office @ Saddle Creek Gary Stevens Validation Engineer GYRUS, ENT Marc Wheetley Operational Excellence Director Smith & Nephew Clara Wherry-Porter Process Improvement Advisor FedEx Express John Cothern Attorney U of M Officers Jenny McNary - President Marcia Boyd - Vice-President Lester L. Brown - Treasurer Patrick N. Brown - Secretary