Sterling Awards Deadline: Nov. 30 is the...

Sterling Awards Deadline: Nov. 30 is the deadline for companies to announce their intention to enter the Sterling Awards, Orange County’s own quality competition that recognizes improvement efforts at service and manufacturing companies.

The competition, open to all companies and organizations with significant operations in the county, is modeled after the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. Winners are judged on leadership, customer satisfaction, human resource development, quality dependability, and measurements and controls.

The deadline for the Sterling Council to receive award applications is Jan. 29. Finalists will be selected March 1 and winners will be announced May 26.

The Sterling Council, which includes KPMG Peat Marwick, the UCI Graduate School of Management and the Times Orange County Edition, mailed out guidelines for entering the competition to nearly 900 businesses last month. To receive a copy, call the Industrial League of Orange County at (714) 476-2242.