MidwayUSA Featured in Inc. Magazine
OutdoorHub 02.07.12
MidwayUSA’s Vision is “To be the best-run business in America, for the benefit of our Customers, by systematically applying the modern leadership and management principles from the Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence.” This vision starts with the company’s Number One goal – Customer Satisfaction. Inc. magazine recently recognized this vision and featured MidwayUSA in a story in the February 2012 issue.
“Everything starts with our Vision, and it’s a pretty bold one,” said Larry Potterfield, Founder and CEO of MidwayUSA. “As a company grows, it’s important to formalize the planning, processes, systems, training and communications and to develop a great team of leaders throughout the organization. This is the hardest part of running a business and it’s something they don’t teach much in business school.”
Successfully running a business with over 300 employees while keeping Customers satisfied at the same time is no accident; it is the result of executing plans, listening to Customers, employees and continuously improving the way the business runs. The adoption of the Baldrige criteria allowed MidwayUSA to make this happen with systematic processes, not to mention fast shipping and friendly service, something the company measures and benchmarks against the best catalog and internet companies in America.
“Potterfield loves Baldrige not because it is exhaustive but because he believes it is foundational,” said Leigh Buchanan, Editor at Large for Inc. magazine. “Recently, he and members of his executive team distilled from the criteria 30 principles—involving things such as communication, work-force development, and contingency planning—that he considers the immutable core of management discipline.”
In late 2011, MidwayUSA won the Columbia Business Times Titan Award, an award presented to businesses that have made a significant difference in their community. The company was also named a “Top Place to Work” in 2011 by Inside Columbia’s CEO magazine.
